Inheritors of Flame
by Kyogre
Summary: AU. The virtual reality world of the game "Inheritors of Flame" is a place where you can become anyone. Even Dame-Tsuna can become a strong, confident guild master and gain many close friends. But the game isn't just a game. It could very well hold the key to the secrets of the world, and the fabled Trinisette.
1. PK

~.~.~

**Title: **Inheritors of Flame**  
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**Summary:** The virtual reality world of the game "Inheritors of Flame" was a chance to become anyone. It was a place where even an ordinary teenager could end up in a battle with the world's greatest hitman, among other incredible things.

**Notes:** I wanted to write a virtual reality MMO AU for KHR. I don't even know? Also, everyone is addressed by their ingame names until their real world selves are introduced. Urgh, it gets so awkward. I didn't think it through...

~.~.~

**Prologue: PK  
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The first time Reborn heard of it was from Dino. The young Cavallone boss had blurted it out while trying to escape Reborn's wrath when his former tutor caught him messing around with a video game, of all things.

"It's not just a video game!" Dino protested, cowering behind the leather couch he had been previously reclined on and holding up the visor-like headgear as a shield. "It's cutting edge virtual reality technology! It feels like you're really in another world! You can be anyone! I bet even you'd like it, Reborn!"

Reborn had snorted and shot the contraption out of his hands. Dino's screams had echoed through the mansion as Reborn set about reeducating his lazy former student.

The second time was when Reborn received a whining phone call from Federico. Apparently, Timoteo's spoiled youngest didn't appreciate Reborn taking away one of his favorite playmates.

"It's not just a game!" Federico declared hotly. "But not like you'd know the difference. Old people are always so bad with technology… You probably couldn't even figure out how to turn it on."

Reborn hung up without bothering to reply. He would need to remind Nono not to let his brat use the business line for his complaints, not that Timoteo would ever really reprimand Federico. Unfortunately, Federico knew not to go past certain bounds, and everything else was forgiven for Vongola Ninth's youngest son.

Federico was also very good at getting under anyone's skin, and despite realizing how childish it was, Reborn couldn't help but brood over his taunts.

Technology was something of a weak spot for him, in as much as Reborn had weak spots. It wasn't quite that he was behind the times. He just… liked tried and proven, reliable methods. Not this newfangled digital nonsense. He knew how to sneak past any security system. What else did he need?

The third time was the tipping point.

"Come on, Lal, it'll be fun! Like the good old days! Messing with rookies never gets old," Colonnello whined, doggedly following Lal. "Don't tell me you don't miss it. You loved it! …A bit too much."

Lal sighed heavily, finally reach the limits of her patience. "Listen, I'm not in the mood," she said. "I could put up with making those arrogant little shits take a woman seriously. I got used to that. But making them take a baby seriously? Not everyone's like the mafia, especially the rookies. They don't know about the Arcobaleno…"

"You don't need to worry about that!" Colonnello declared. "That's why I chose this session. They're going to be doing it through VR!"

"Did they finally crack it? Last I heard only that one company had it, and they weren't sharing," Lal said, frowning.

"Nah," Colonnello snorted. "They're still trying to make heads or tails of it. But they managed to get a couple fields in the game set aside for the training. The system is already very realistic, and all the special effects are being disabled in the area…"

Reborn, who had just happened to be passing by and was in no way eavesdropping, scowled. That cinched it. If even Colonnello had figured this Vee-Ar thing out, like hell Reborn couldn't.

~.~.~

For something that was above cutting edge, top of the line technology, the headgear, system and subscription were surprisingly cheap, not that price was an issue for Reborn. The greatest difficulty came in getting a visor small enough for his cursed form's head.

That, and making his peace with leaving his body so vulnerable while his mind was otherwise occupied.

As the VR system activated, Reborn's vision — previously just the darkness at the back of his eyelids — burst into color.

_Link start_, a floating display read. _Connection established._

More text passed by quickly, and suddenly Reborn found himself standing in the middle of an illusionary chamber. A small screen floated in front of him.

_No existing account could be found. Create new account, Yes/No?_

It took Reborn longer than he was willing to admit to realize he was supposed to touch the _Yes_ key.

_Please create your avatar_, read the screen next. But Reborn wasn't looking at it any longer.

In front of him, a painfully familiar figure had appeared. Tall, clad in a black suit that was just a little outdated by modern standards, sideburns curling from under the shadow of a fedora… It was him. The real him.

When asking a new player to create their avatar, the VR system automatically loaded the player's real appearance — or rather, how the player believed themselves to appear. For most people, it would be the face in the mirror, their physical selves.

It had been years since the curse of the Arcobaleno took hold, and Reborn had… adjusted. He hadn't had a choice. But to see the real, adult him again…

Reborn barely paid attention to the rest of the set up, flipping through it quickly. Then, another moment of disorientation, and there was only him the illusionary space. Only the real him.

Flexing the large, familiar hand, Reborn reached out and clicked _Yes_, under the _Confirm character model?_ message.

_Welcome_, the next screen read, _to Inheritors of Flame_.

~.~.~

"There's a guy I want you kill!" Federico declared, pointing dramatically. "Name your price, Reborn!"

With a completely flat expression, Reborn grabbed hold of his finger and entire hand, twisting them back painfully. "One, don't point at me. That's rude," Reborn said. "Two, it's Leon here. That's rude too, young _Vongola_." He stressed the last word — Federico's in-game name — as a reminder of where they were.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Federico wailed, cringing even after Reborn let go. The sensation of pain was heavily dulled within the virtual reality world, but Reborn was very good at pushing the system to its limits. His HP had even gone down.

"If you want to hire me," Reborn continued calmly, "go through the usual channels. This is my personal time, and I don't want to talk business."

He often wished he didn't have to deal with anyone from his real life at all, but unfortunately Federico spent an inordinate amount of time in IoF, and despite being a whiny spoiled brat, he had at least a fraction of his line's famous intuition. Just seeing "Leon" in action once by chance was enough for him to make the connection.

"I don't mean IRL," Federico said, scowling. "I mean here! I want you to PK a guy."

Reborn considered the idea. Inheritors of Flame, the only game that utilized the VR technology, was mostly PVP. There were monsters that could be fought, but most of the action came from players going against each other for experience, items, and control of territory.

Most players joined guilds that claimed bases and expanded their areas of control while gathering more powerful weapons and equipment. In that set up, Reborn as "Leon" stood out for two reasons.

One, he was a loner, who played — fought — only solo. And two, he used none of the high level weapons or equipment.

Reborn didn't need them. Just the basic guns, replicated with surprising realism, were enough for him, even against the strongest opponents.

However, while Reborn had taken down plenty of other players, he had done so of his own volition and for his own amusement. He wasn't a hitman in the world of IoF.

"Name your price. You know my guild can pay it," Federico cajoled. "We can even offer a Sun A-rank Box…"

"I don't want it," Reborn dismissed the last offer. Instead, he smirked. "What did this poor fool do to earn an execution order? Let me guess… He beat you. Soundly. That's why you can't just take him out yourself either. That's no good. You shouldn't be such a sore loser, young Vongola. What would your esteemed older brother say?"

"He didn't beat me!" Federico yelled, shaking his fist at the ceiling. The mention of Enrico especially infuriated him.

However, his flush made it clear that Reborn had guessed more or less correctly. Federico's enemy was someone he didn't think he had a chance of beating. Which was interesting, given that Federico was a powerful player with a large guild at his beck and call.

Federico threw himself dramatically across one of the couches in the meeting room they were using. Like the rest of Federico's guild hall, it was all very luxurious and ostentatious — and clearly modeled on Vongola Headquarters in real life.

"This guy… He got awarded the title of Tenth. I wanted it!" Federico groaned. Receiving no reaction from Reborn, he glanced at the hitman, then sighed. "You… you don't even know what that means? Look, you know how everyone has a rank and that decides how strong a Box you can use? I'm an A-rank, and you are too, right?"

Actually, Reborn was still only a C-rank. That was the rank he had received from the moment he first logged on, and it hadn't gone up. Unsurprising, since Reborn didn't bother with whatever system of special abilities the game in place. He had taken down A-rank opponents with pure skill just fine.

None of this showed on his face, and Federico continued without realizing his mistake. "Well, it's possible to get so strong the system stops ranking you. It's called Over Rank," he explained. "It's so rare that players who reach it are given a title indicating the order they achieved it. This guy is the tenth to do it, so he now has the title "X"… which I wanted."

"So that you would be Vongola X," Reborn said blandly.

Federico shrugged, smirking unrepentantly.

It was just a joke. Federico had about as much interest in inheriting the famiglia as Massimo, but he also greatly enjoyed teasing his serious, straight-laced oldest brother. "You shouldn't scowl so much, or you'll get wrinkles, and I'll steal all the girls away!" "You better eat up, or I'll take all the cake for myself!" "Shape up, or I'll take over Vongola instead of you!"

Being "Vongola X" in the game would probably have made him chuckle to himself like a loser for months.

"But that guy stole it first!" Federico proclaimed, scowling again.

Well, it wasn't the stupidest reason Reborn had been given for killing someone. And this was just a game. Even being "killed" carried just a small penalty.

Not that Reborn had any intention of accepting. Like he had said, this was something he did for his own personal enjoyment, not as work.

But someone even stronger than A-rank… That sounded interesting. Like a challenge.

"And who is this unfortunate fellow?" Reborn asked lazily.

"He's got a small guild and territory. I can give you the coordinates," Federico said, smiling as he assumed he was about to get his way. "His name is Ieyasu."

~.~.~

Using the information Federico provided — his expression when Reborn refused to take the job and just walked off was priceless — Reborn easily tracked down "Ieyasu" and his guild. The guild's name, incidentally, was also "Reborn," which made him snort in mixed amusement and annoyance. It was a strange coincidence.

The guild was based beneath an NPC city. It was rare to see a settlement of that size in the game, which was mostly comprised of the usual post apocalyptic fare — abandoned structures, wastelands and mutated jungles. Reborn vaguely remembered there were specific requirements for having the guildhall coexist with NPCs, though the details escaped him.

More importantly, because this was a game, there was no way to sneak into a guild's base without using a specific special skill — which required a "Mist Flame" as opposed to Reborn's Sun anyway. It was one of the rare instances where game mechanics couldn't be bypassed in some way — just stepping into the guildhall automatically sent a notice to the "owner" of the territory.

Instead, Reborn simply found an entrance to the base that led outside the limits of the city, set off the alarms, and took a sniping position nearby to lie in wait until someone emerged to investigate. He was entirely prepared to go through the entire guild to get to the leader, if necessary. According to Federico, there were only five of them anyway.

He was in luck. The first person to emerge from the hidden entrance was the one he wanted to see — a young man who appeared to be in his twenties, with messy brown hair that took on a burnished orange tint under the sun. Compared to the kinds of outfits the game allowed, he was dressed rather simply in a shirt, vest, and pants. Only the full cape on his shoulders stood out as something people wouldn't wear in real life.

Well, most people. The mafia was full of weirdos, so Reborn had actually seen plenty of capes too.

As Reborn focused on him through the scope of the sniper rifle, a small cursor popped up, indicating that this was a player, name given as "Ieyasu X," and the master of the local territory.

Perfect.

Reborn pulled the trigger.

Although IoF allowed for things like headshots — increased or even instantly lethal damage based on the area hit — most higher level players carried special items that could negate a single surprise attack or even had innate defensive skills to protect them.

But instead of his bullet being burned away by a shield of Flame or intercepted by a Box Animal, Reborn watched in some surprise as Ieyasu dodged it at the last moment.

"Oh-ho," Reborn murmured to himself. "Interesting…"

The guild leader's gaze had snapped toward Reborn's location, his eyes narrowing. His cape flared out as Ieyasu held his hands out from his body. Armored gloves lit up with orange Flames, and he rocketed off toward Reborn like a streak of light.

Reborn was already unequipping the sniper rifle and pulling out a handgun instead. He ducked aside just in time to avoid a burning punch to the face and in the same motion trained his gun on Ieyasu as the other flew past.

But again, his opponent was able to react in time — no, it was too fast for that; he was actually reading Reborn's moves and predicting his attacks.

Pointing his free hand downward, Ieyasu released a burst of Flame that propelled him out of the bullets' path. He flipped, almost like handstand, and coming down again, aimed a sharp kick at Reborn's head.

Reborn caught his leg, reinforcing his body with his own Sun Flames. His next shots were too close to dodge, but Ieyasu threw up one hand, and powerful Sky Flames completely burned the bullets away.

As expected of a high-level player, of course.

Yanking him close by the grip he still had on Ieyasu's leg, Reborn tried to shove the barrel of his gun under the other's chin — blocking something pointblank against the skin with your Flames was almost impossible — but Ieyasu lashed out with his other leg. He managed to nail Reborn in the side of the head, knocking his hat off, and at the same time used the momentum to twist himself free of Reborn's grip.

Reborn let him airdash away. He glanced over his shoulder, in time to watch his fedora dissolve into particles of light. That kick had been enough to knock Reborn's HP down a little and, more importantly, invoke one of IoF's more annoying mechanics — the destruction of equipment if it was attached to the general body area that was damaged.

There were limits, of course. This wasn't that kind of game, and ending up actually naked was impossible outside special events like hot spring visits. But outer clothing was progressively destroyed as players were beaten down, especially since clothing and costumes had very low durability.

Reborn had liked that hat… But fortunately he, like most players, carried spares of his equipment in the invisible, intangible "pocket" they were all granted. (It was supposed to be yet another Box, which every player character came pre-equipped with, but that was really just a thin excuse to avoid inventory management puzzles.)

Another fedora materialized in Reborn's hand, and he placed it atop his head carefully.

Ieyasu had watched him from a distance. Unlike Reborn's real life hits, he looked more put upon than anything. "Why are you coming after me?" Ieyasu asked, his tone weary.

"Hmm… I wanted to see the abilities of the Over Rank I heard so much about," Reborn admitted easily.

"You too?" Ieyasu sighed.

Reborn smirked a little, understanding that he must have been hounded by challengers ever since going up in rank. In the same way, there never seemed to be an end to the idiots who wanted to try their hand at taking down "the greatest hitman."

"But… you're not like the others," Ieyasu noted, his fire-orange eyes studying Reborn critically. Seemingly coming to some conclusion, Ieyasu held up a hand and said, "Would you mind waiting for a moment?"

Raising an eyebrow, Reborn shrugged and gestured for him to go ahead.

As Ieyasu waved his hand, several small screens appeared in front of him, and he began to scroll through them, tapping at different options. The contents were blurred to Reborn — and any other bystanders — but based on positioning of his selections, he was going into a submenu Reborn didn't have.

'Probably something to do with his guild,' Reborn thought. 'Calling his friends for help? Not that it would matter… The more, the merrier.'

In fact, Ieyasu was simply transferring ownership of the guildhall and the territory to one of his guildmates. Next, he unequipped his cape and his gloves, which quickly dissolved into light. Another, older pair of gloves appeared on his hands instead, while the rest of his inventory was also sent to his friend for safekeeping.

Readjusting his weapons in a pointless movement that was all nervous gesture, he faced Reborn again.

'This person… isn't like the others,' he thought. 'He's really, really strong. I don't know if I can win…' But as Reborn raised his eyebrows, asking silently, "Are you ready?", Ieyasu nodded sharply. '…But I won't give up!'

Ieyasu tensed as Reborn's gun snapped up toward him. Yellow Sun Flames lit up the tip of the barrel, and a barrage of glowing arrows shot out. They didn't follow straight paths, curving to pursue Ieyasu even when he shot straight up into the air to get away.

No matter how he weaved or what maneuver he pulled, he couldn't shake them. Ieyasu could have blasted the glowing shots away with his own Flames — it had been quite a while since he had run across someone he didn't outclass in terms of raw power output. But that was a waste, and he had a far better way.

With a burst of speed, Ieyasu managed to put a little distance between himself and the homing projectiles. Spinning around to face them, he brought his hands together and concentrated.

It looked like the shots hit him, bursting apart in a bright flash of yellow Flames, but Reborn immediately knew that something wasn't right. The Flames were drawn inward, disappearing more than fading away, and Ieyasu's unharmed figure was revealed.

'He absorbed it,' Reborn thought. 'Not just neutralizing my Flames, but making them his own…'

He'd seen Box Weapons that could do something similar, but that seemed to be a unique skill used by the player himself. It was certainly interesting, but that pose especially…

Ieyasu had already begun to move the moment he had finished absorption. He twisted sideways, one open palm held out toward Reborn, the other thrust behind him. Intense, pure Sky Flames gathered in his hands, and his eyes narrowed.

Reborn tried to dodge, but again it was as if his opponent could read his movements. The beam of concentrated Flames that shot out managed to graze Reborn's shoulder, the damage bringing his HP down a respectable amount and also destroying his outer jacket, which dissolved completely as it unequipped and vanished from his inventory.

Behind Reborn, a loud crash and explosion of dust marked where the attack bit into the landscape. In real world, it would have left quite the crater, though in IoF the field couldn't be altered with normal techniques.

The return shot came too fast for Ieyasu to dodge as well, drawing a thick red line of "damage" across his side and destroying his vest.

"Hoh…" Reborn drew out, as the two opponents faced each other again. "It looks like I'll have to take you a bit seriously after all. You're not half bad."

The expression that spread across his face was more grin than smirk. This kid was more than not half bad. It was just a game… but it looked like it was going to be a fun one.

Ieyasu's lips twitched into an answering smile, and he nodded sharply. "Then I won't hold back either," he declared.

He took a deep breath… and a Flame burst to life on his forehead.

'Interesting indeed…'

~.~.~

"I saw the bounty list! You took him down! Wonderful!" Federico's gloating came over the voice chat, followed by self-satisfied laughter.

Reborn could imagine him throwing back his head, his entire torso tipping until he was practically facing the ceiling, mouth parted to release the obnoxious peals of laughter. Just the image alone was infuriating, and the reason Reborn had contacted him through voice chat, instead of waiting for Federico to track him down in person. This was already more than he could stand.

"I felt like it," Reborn said flatly. "And right now, I feel a lot like shooting you between the eyes."

The annoying laughter cut off abruptly.

"W-well, yes," Federico coughed. "Congratulations, and all that. Defeating an Over Rank is no mean feat."

Reborn hummed noncommittally. "He's powerful and has good instincts, but he's an amateur." In the end, someone who had only fought for fun lacked the sort of edge life or death combat instilled, and Reborn had gotten maybe a bit too serious toward the end.

"Yeah. If the circumstances were a bit different, I might have tried to recruit him," Federico admitted.

"To your guild? He's got his own," Reborn said.

"No, to Vongola," Federico said. "It's not one hundred percent, but Flames in the game match Flames in real life. I can tell that much, even if I'm not much for fighting. Meeting strong players is a good way of finding people who have strong Flames in the real world too."

"You've been using the game to recruit," Reborn said, somewhat skeptically. It made sense. Even if using Flames in real life was incredibly difficult without a rare special artifact, people with strong Flames were generally strong in other ways too. And they were often the sort who would join — the kind that didn't quite fit in to ordinary life.

Federico chuckled. "A little. There's things like disposition and other circumstances to consider, but it works surprisingly well. This game isn't just a game, you know."

If it replicated Flames to that extent, then the creator must have known Flames very, very well, and a very select, few people fit those criteria in the entire world. And Reborn couldn't imagine them sinking that kind of time and effort into "just a game."

But Reborn didn't comment on that. "…Have you ever fought him?" he asked instead.

"Ieyasu? No," Federico said. "I've heard a bit about him though. It's pretty easy to tell he's not suitable, in different ways."

"He looks like Vongola Primo," Reborn noted casually.

"I guess," Federico replied, his tone conveying the shrug he must have been making. "I've seen his profile picture. I can see the resemblance, now that you mention it… But it's just a coincidence. The character creation only lets you change your appearance a little, so he must look mostly like that in real life. Things like that happen."

A coincidental appearance. A coincidental fighting style, a coincidental ability.

A coincidental guild name.

That was an awful lot of coincidences. A suspicious amount.

But Reborn didn't comment on that either. Like he had said before, this was what he did to wind down and relax. He had no interest in getting involved in some plot or conspiracy.

It might have been more to others, but to him the game was just a game, one that he planned to enjoy to the fullest.

~.~.~


	2. Side Quest

~.~.~

**Title: **Inheritors of Flame**  
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**Summary:** The virtual reality world of the game "Inheritors of Flame" was a chance to become anyone. It was a place where even an ordinary teenager could end up in a battle with the world's greatest hitman, among other incredible things.

**Notes:** And now for someone different! aka POV shift. Most of the action (for a while, at least) will be with Tsuna and his guild. Please feel free to ask any questions or point out any inconsistencies or ridiculousness (though I might just ignore it).

Updates will be weekly, on Friday or Saturday. DO NOT tell me to update faster or ask me about it unless I am behind.

~.~.~

**Chapter 1: Side Quest**

After being automatically logged out, Sawada Tsunayoshi — third year middle school student, all-round loser, Tsuna for short — simply stared at the ceiling off his room. He didn't bother moving to even take off the VR system's visor, just waiting for the mandatory cool down before he could respawn to pass.

The faint scent of a fresh meal wafted over to him from beyond the bedroom door, and Tsuna briefly contemplated getting up and eating. But that would mean risking being spotted by his mom, and he wanted to avoid that even if it meant going hungry for a while.

Closing his eyes, he remained motionless on his bed. Once the forced downtime was over, the VR system booted up again, leaving him momentarily floating in the strange physical disconnect that came between two states of being.

When he opened his eyes, he was somewhere completely different, though still lying on a bed. A small screen popped up, displaying his stats — and the losses from his defeat. They weren't much, really, and they unfortunately hadn't affected the most annoying part. The troublesome title was still there, behind his character name — "Ieyasu X," the tenth player to become Over Rank.

Tsuna sighed, sitting up and throwing his legs over the side of the bed. As expected, he had reappeared in the designated medical wing of his guildhall. Well, it wasn't exactly his at the moment, since he had transferred ownership of it to Chrome.

"Are you okay, Boss?" Speaking of which, Chrome had already been waiting in the corner of the infirmary, having correctly guessed he would log back in as soon as he could.

"Yeah. It's no big deal. Not the first time I got killed." Though it had been a while since the last time. Tsuna said, smiling sheepishly, "Sorry. He really got me."

Chrome peered up at him, then smiled shyly. "I'm glad. Here, I'll transfer everything back." He opened his menu and began scrolling through the options.

Actually, Tsuna was pretty sure that Chrome was a girl in real life, based on mannerisms and just… a certain something. That was probably the reason Chrome's avatar was so comparatively young, about thirteen or so. Changing your gender used up a lot of customization points, so she wouldn't have been able to age the character up too.

When the window popped up, asking him to accept the transfer of items and territory ownership, he tapped _Yes_ absently.

"Well, at least maybe they'll lay off a bit now," Tsuna suggested hopefully. The so-called bounty lists, which recorded all PVP wins and losses, would let everyone know in no time.

He certainly hoped so. The first day after receiving his "title," Tsuna had made the mistake of going about business as usual. The simple quest he had tried to take turned into a wild free for all manhunt across five territories. Just remembering the chaos and the manic faces of his pursuers made Tsuna shuddered.

He had also accidentally… um, destroyed a major trade center, which had led to the system issuing a rather harsh penalty.

To avoid another situation like that, Tsuna had taken to skulking around the guildhall. Since their secret base was largely empty, it was incredibly boring, even when he was occasionally interrupted by intruders who managed to make it through the perimeter defenses.

Everyone he spoke to just suggested that Tsuna take a break from IoF until things calmed down, but that… wasn't really an option for him. What was Tsuna supposed to do if he wasn't playing IoF? He definitely didn't want to go to school, or out of his room at all, and it wasn't like he had any real life friends.

"I hope so too," Chrome said, pulling him out of his thoughts. He glanced up at Tsuna again, shyly. "Boss… hasn't been acting like himself recently."

Actually, Tsuna had been acting like himself — his real self, a useless wimp who could only run and hide from problems, instead of facing them, who had locked himself in his room and refused to go out for over a week already.

But he hadn't been acting like "Ieyasu," the person Tsuna had always wanted to be, whom he could pretend to be in the world of the game. Unlike Tsuna, Ieyasu was strong, and brave, and confident, and reliable.

"R-right, sorry," Tsuna winced internally at the small stutter. Fighting down an embarrassed flush, he busied himself with checking that nothing had been lost in the back and forth transfer and that his settings hadn't gotten messed up. He took managing their territory and guild very seriously, more seriously than anything in his real life.

That was why he really, really didn't want his friends to see the useless, _dame_ side of him. But without meaning to, he had been showing it to them.

Shigure and Ryo probably hadn't noticed yet, since they always logged in after him and logged out before him, but Chrome must have realized that he was skipping school, given how much time Tsuna was spending in IoF.

'How embarrassing…' Tsuna thought, squirming a little. 'I need to get it together.'

"Is it just us?" he asked. He did his best to smile confidently, as if nothing was bothering him at all.

"Yes, Boss," Chrome said quietly. "Lambo fell asleep a while back." Which meant the system had logged him out automatically.

"And those two must still be at their clubs," Tsuna mused. Or even still in class, really. "So that just leaves… ugh…"

Tsuna winced, while Chrome patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. Their guild's last member was bound to have a very… explosive reaction when he found out about Tsuna's loss.

"H-he's always been really irregular, especially recently! Who knows when he'll log in next!" Tsuna declared, trying to reassure himself with false bravado. "Maybe it'll have moved far down enough in the lists that he won't notice…." He shared a look with Chrome that clearly said neither of them could believe such a convenient outcome.

To calm his nerves, Tsuna reached down to pat at his pocket. It was a reflexive gesture, which drew abruptly short as Tsuna realized there was nothing there. His pockets were empty. "Huh?" he muttered to himself distractedly. "Oh, right. I have to re-equip it…"

But there was a growing pool of dread in his stomach as he scrolled through his inventory — because Tsuna couldn't remember unequipping it in the first place.

"It's not there," Tsuna was forced to conclude weakly, as he reached the end of his inventory list.

"Boss?" Chrome asked worriedly, eyebrows drawing together.

"I forgot about it. I can't believe I just forgot…" Tsuna said.

It was just something he was so used to having that he didn't think about it. He always carried it with him. It didn't give any bonuses or serve any purpose, but it was important to him, personally.

"I've got to go," Tsuna said abruptly, turning to head toward the same exit he had used less than hour before.

"Ah, Boss! Do you want me to come with you?" Chrome called out after him.

"No, it's okay!" Tsuna called back without pausing.

This was something he needed to take care of himself.

~.~.~

Making his way out of the guildhall's hidden entrance, Tsuna glanced around the wasteland where he and his opponent had fought.

There was no sign of their battle, of course. Outside of special events, terrain not classified as "structures" couldn't be damaged, though the clouds of dust and shrapnel generated instead made for a good imitation. A small range of techniques could temporarily change the battlefield, but those effects also wore off quickly.

Towns, no matter their size, were a different story. They were composed entirely of "structures" that could be easily damaged or even completely destroyed. That was part of the reason why maintaining an NPC settlement on your territory was seen as so difficult. It had to be protected, since the NPC citizens would only rebuild it so many times before they lost confidence and abandoned the town or outpost.

NPC "confidence" was the other reason, of course. It was some kind of hidden stat that no one could quite get a hang of. Tsuna didn't entirely understand the stuff that got discussed in the forums, but to him it had always seemed pretty simple — as long as you treated the NPCs like real people, they stayed happy, in his experience.

Of their base's six entrances, only two actually led into town. A third led to the abandoned shrine on the town's outskirts. One led to the seashore, another into a stretch of jungle, and the last onto a very IoF typical wasteland.

Tsuna supposed he should be grateful that he didn't have to search through the jungle at least.

With a flick of his wrist, he materialized his only Box Weapon — an orange Sky one, with a stylized design on each side. It had originally contained a Sky Lion, a high level animal type, but after the amount of use and upgrades Tsuna had put into it, the Box Weapon had eventually transformed into a "unique" one.

"Come out, Natsu," Tsuna beckoned, pouring his Flames into the Box.

The top split in half and burst open. The mass of Flames that shot out quickly took shape, transforming into a cute, cartoonish lion cub, which peered up at Tsuna with bright eyes. Maybe it was just his imagination, but Tsuna was sure that Natsu was happy to see him. Without a doubt, the Sky Lion remembered everything they had done together, and had learned from those adventures.

"I need your help, Natsu," Tsuna said, kneeling in front of the cub. "We need to look for that thing. You know?"

He made a round shape with his hands, which Natsu studied for a moment before brightening and growling affirmatively.

As Natsu bounded in search of the lost item, Tsuna shielded his eyes against the sun and scanned the wasteland. Normally, if you made a certain effort that could be construed as "searching," the game system helpfully positioned a cursor over any loose item in the vicinity, to spare players long, boring treasure hunts.

But there was nothing coming up, even though Tsuna was certain this was the right place. When Natsu returned, head and tail drooping in defeat, Tsuna only sighed and scratched the tiny lion under the chin.

"Not here, huh? I was hoping I dropped it by accident, but that never happened before. No way I'd be so lucky this time," Tsuna snorted. That hadn't happened even in the times when all his clothes got destroyed, and it wouldn't have just magically unequipped itself. "Then the only other option is… it ended up going to that guy."

A defeated player's equipped items and a random selection of objects from their inventory were automatically transferred to the winner. Tsuna didn't care about the gloves he had been using in that battle — he had plenty of spares stored in the guildhall, and they weren't even his best ones — and his only other possessions at the time had been his clothes, which ended up mostly destroyed, since he had transferred everything else to Chrome.

But that one thing… It couldn't be replaced. He couldn't believe he'd been foolish enough to forget around it.

Tsuna bit his lip. He needed to get it back, but how? It had no uses, so logically it would get sold. Should he wait for it to appear at the auction house? But if he started bidding, it would turn into another fiasco. Could he ask Chrome or one of the others to do it…?

"Argh, I'm doing it again," Tsuna groaned, hanging his head.

Acting all pathetic, making everyone cover for him… Sawada Tsunayoshi was that kind of useless human being. The one who couldn't do anything, whose team always lost, who backed out without even trying. But Ieyasu wasn't. The reason Tsuna played this game was to be someone else — to get away from his hesitant, no-good self.

Meeting Natsu's patience gaze, Tsuna wondered, "What would Ieyasu do? What do you think?"

Baring his tiny fangs, Natsu growled enthusiastically.

Tsuna nodded seriously. "Yeah," he agreed, "Ieyasu would get it back himself, with his own two hands. He wouldn't hesitate when something precious is on the line."

Taking a deep breath, he slapped both his cheeks, as if to wake himself up. As Tsuna straightened, the uncertainty disappeared from his expression, leaving a calm, confident mien.

A few taps at the menu, and the clothes he had respawned in — a bland set that resembled hospital scrubs or pajamas — was replaced with a spare outfit from his inventory. His cape materialized a moment later, settling over his shoulders reassuringly. Finally, ornate metal gloves snapped into place on his hands.

"I'm going, Natsu," Tsuna said.

The tiny Sky Lion roared encouragingly, before turning back into Flame and returning to its Box. Alone once more, Tsuna took to the skies, racing toward his target.

~.~.~

Normally, tracking a player who wasn't in your guild involved an infuriating process of either pure elimination and luck or asking enough NPCs that the system took pity on you and had one of them mention a "rumor" about the target's location. Of course, like practically every mechanic in IoF, the latter involved several algorithms that no one quite understood the parameters to, so this also came down to luck.

Fortunately for Tsuna, tracking down the person who killed you was much easier — thanks to the "Vendetta" option.

After being PKed and respawning, a special quest became available that was called "Vendetta" and predictably involved tracking down your killer and theoretically defeating them in return.

According to the Vendetta compass, the black-suited gunman "Leon" — Reborn — hadn't gone far. But arriving at the area where his target was supposedly located, Tsuna paused dubiously.

"Here? Why would he be hanging out in a low level area like this?" Tsuna muttered to himself.

The jungle in front of him was one of the "wild" fields — territories that couldn't belong to any player, instead infested with monsters and used for a myriad of general quests by the system. It loomed ominously, but Tsuna knew that it was actually one of the easiest, least dangerous areas on the server, though the layout was convoluted and infuriating. The fetch quests Tsuna remembered being sent on there had been particularly annoying.

Tsuna shook his head. It didn't matter. Squaring his shoulders, he began to make his way through the jungle.

In real life, it would have been an arduous task, but since this was a game, there were actually just numerous pre-rendered trails that wove between the weird, mutated trees and vines. Instead of watching where he was going, Tsuna focused on the red cursor that pointed toward his target, turning lazily as both he and Reborn moved across the field.

Up ahead, the path widened, and the first strains of the area random encounter battle BGM reached Tsuna. He burst into the clearing, in time to see…

A giant kabuto beetle take an equally giant hammer to the head.

Tsuna stared. The giant beetle didn't surprise him — it was a fairly common monster in this jungle — but what was up with that massive green hammer? And that outfit?!

The cool, suave gunman who had defeated him was gone. Instead, Reborn was dressed in a completely stereotypical "safari" outfit of khaki shorts and shirt, both with large pockets on the front, and a matching hard hat. The ridiculously large bright green hammer also had to be a joke item, not to mention completely out of place with the costume.

'At least use a hunting rifle!' Tsuna thought, before catching himself. '…That's not the point here!'

But no matter how silly it looked, the hammer had done its job. The beetle's carapace cracked open under the hammer's weight, and with a dying cry that was somewhere between a screech and a hiss, it dissolved into light.

"Another one," Reborn sighed. "I already got that one…"

"W-what are you doing?" Tsuna blurted out. 'What are you wearing?!'

Reborn didn't even have the decency to pretend to be surprised to see him. "You again," he said with another sigh. It was somehow insulting. He must have guessed that Tsuna had come for a rematch, but his entire demeanor made it seem as if Tsuna posed no more threat than those low level bugs.

If anything, Reborn's expression said something like, 'Oh great, a nuisance just showed up.' Usually, Tsuna wouldn't have cared so much, but he considered himself, not without reason, to be a strong player — certainly warranting more than a look like that.

"Don't you have anything better to do than mess around in a low-rank area like this?" Tsuna asked rather snappishly. "Quite a step down from seeing if an Over Rank can be a challenge."

"Well, I now know that the answer is no…" Reborn said blandly, aiming to infuriate.

"I see… Then this time I'll make sure to make it worth your while," Tsuna promised, slipping into a fighting stance.

"Don't forget to manage your inventory," Reborn reminded him 'helpfully,' making Tsuna glare.

"I don't need to. This time, I'm come at you with everything I have," Tsuna promised, stopping just short of gritting his teeth. With a flick of his wrist, he equipped Natsu's Box and began to channel Flames into it.

But that was as far as he got. The sudden random encounter BGM started up abruptly, making Tsuna tense and glance around.

Several large moths — the size of a pigeon each — appeared out of the surrounding vegetation. That wasn't the problem, the moths were a common encounter in the area. The problem was that the one group was quickly joined by another, and another, and another, until Tsuna's vision was completely obscured their fluttering wings and the clouds of glittering dust they were shedding.

As the moths swarmed angrily around him, Tsuna yelped and tried to cover his head with his hands.

"Enough! Get… off!" he yelled, Flames bursting out from his hands.

With his high stats, the moths quickly burned up, and the rest fled. But the victory chime gave Tsuna no sense of satisfaction. Looking around, he could see that, in the confusion, he had been transported somewhere completely different, at the edge of the jungle.

Tsuna groaned. Now he would have to start his search all over again.

~.~.~

"Back again?" Reborn asked rhetorically, when Tsuna caught up with him a second time. He was still dressed in same ridiculous "safari" outfit, but he had switched the giant hammer for a bug-catching net. Somehow, that didn't really make it better.

Tsuna huffed, but said, "I'm not going to do anything right now. I forgot… since this area is for beginners, PVP is prohibited here. Trying it gets you teleported out."

Reborn hummed noncommittally, turning away and proceeding deeper into the jungle. As Tsuna trailed after him, he commented, "So instead you're going to follow me until I leave here?"

"That's right," Tsuna said determinedly. He watched the broad back in front of him closely, in case Reborn tried to make so break for it, but the other maintained the same leisurely pace. "Whatever your business here, please finish it quickly."

"Don't worry, I've only got one more to go," Reborn said, holding up what looked like a score card.

Jogging a little to fall in step beside Reborn, Tsuna studied the card for a moment. It looked like something you'd get at a festival, with spaces to be stamped for every stall you visit — collect all the stamps and get a prize! — except that instead of stalls, each stamp stood for an insect-type monster that could be encountered in the local jungle. The top proclaimed in bold letters "Bug Hunt!"

"Oh, this quest!" Tsuna realized brightening. "I remember this! …But aren't you a bit overleveled for this?"

"The top prize looked interesting," Reborn said, not in the least bit embarrassed. Having only received the lowest possible prize when he did the quest two years prior, Tsuna had to rack his brain to remember what the top prize even was. "It's a platinum stag beetle figurine," Reborn told him.

'What's so interesting about that?' Tsuna wondered. 'It's only good for decorations and to sell.'

"I have a special fondness for insects," Reborn answered. "It's my policy to accept all quests relating to them."

Tsuna nodded along before remembering that he hadn't asked anything aloud. He glanced at Reborn, who smirked back. 'Of course, it's the obvious question,' Tsuna thought, doing his best to maintain a calm, composed demeanor. 'Don't let him make you lose your cool any more!'

"It's impressive that you got all of those so quickly," Tsuna commented instead, refusing to acknowledge the way Reborn's smirk widened, as if he really could read Tsuna's thoughts. "It looks like you just have the bagworm left. But you know, it's not possible to get those in random encounters."

He had to hide his own satisfied smile at the momentary pause from Reborn.

"You have to shake the trees to see if one of them drops down," Tsuna went on helpfully. He suspected Reborn was one of those people who skipped through the NPC dialogue — missing all the helpful tips they provided.

Of course, Tsuna himself only remembered because he'd had a quest that involved nothing but collecting bagworms. He still wasn't sure if the reward had been worth the aggravation of having to shake what felt like every single tree in the entire jungle, while running from the swarming random encounters.

Reborn stopped suddenly in his tracks, forcing Tsuna to backpedal sharply to stay next to him. He deftly exchanged the bug net for a pistol and began to shoot, rapid fire.

Each bullet hit one of the trees lining the path square in the trunk, making them shake. Normally, that wouldn't have been possible, since the trees were part of the terrain, but Tsuna realized, 'Is… is he using the special Quake-effect bullets just so he doesn't have to walk up to each tree himself?' It was certainly creative, but also pretty lazy and wasteful.

But effective, too. A lumpy shape dropped down from the foliage of one of the trees. The bagworm wiggled helplessly, but it was unable to do anything before Reborn ruthlessly shot.

As the bagworm dissolved into specks of light, the last stamp appeared on Reborn's score card, accompanied by the victory chime.

"It's about time," Reborn said, nodding to himself and letting his gun unequip. Scrolling through his inventory, he pulled out something else and tossed it to Tsuna. "Thanks for the tip," he added. "Here, that's what you wanted, right?"

Tsuna fumbled the catch, barely managing to keep hold of the item. Turning it over in his hands, he saw that it was indeed the item he had come to get back — an old, burnished pocket watch.

~.~.~

Sighing silently, Reborn glanced back over his shoulder. "Well? You got what you wanted, so why are you still following me? Do you want another beating that badly?" he asked.

Tsuna didn't dignify the last question with an answer, knowing he was being taunted. "How did you know what I wanted?" he asked instead.

"It was obvious," Reborn said. "That thing has no uses, but you were carrying it around, so it must be important. It's for a quest, isn't it?"

"More like a memento," Tsuna said. He admitted, "I'm surprised you would just give it back. I even prepared myself to fight you again…"

"Like I said, it's useless to me. There's no point in keeping it," Reborn said. He smirked. "So how did you prepare to fight me? Come up with a special strategy? A secret item? Not that it would have helped you in the end."

"I meant mentally. You're… how to put it, you're very intense. I can't really explain it, but fighting you was different than anyone else I've faced so far," Tsuna said. 'That, and I almost just tried to hide at the guildhall like a loser,' he thought, and hoped that Reborn wouldn't be able to somehow guess that part.

'He noticed, huh?' Reborn mused, as the two of them lapsed into silence. 'I got pretty serious toward the end, like a real fight instead of just a game. I guess even an amateur can tell the difference in intent…'

He glanced at Tsuna in surprise when the other player stopped suddenly — and bowed. "Leon-san, thank you!" Tsuna declared. "For returning the watch to me, and for helping me come to an important realization. I'm in your debt!"

A moment of surprised silence, then Reborn burst out laughing. "You're something else, kid," he said, still chuckling.

"…You don't have to laugh that much," Tsuna muttered. "I just wanted to convey my gratitude properly."

"Sure, sure," Reborn said. "Tell you what, you answer a question for me, and we'll call it even. It's been bothering me… Why did you name your guild 'Reborn?'"

"That's all?" Tsuna wondered. "Well, it's because… In IoF, you can become anyone. You don't have to be the same person you're born as. The person you always wanted to be, the person you wish you were… You can be reborn into a new life. That's what I was thinking when I picked that name."

"I see," Reborn said. Tsuna thought he might have sounded disappointed, but before he could ask, Reborn spoke again. "I'm heading back into town to complete the quest. So this is as far as we go. You don't want to end up causing another stampede, right?"

They had made it out of the jungle and to one of the highways that allowed players to move quickly between areas. Reborn was right — Tsuna didn't want to go into town. He might have decided to go out and keep playing the game, but showing his face in a place with so many other players was asking for trouble.

"…Yeah. Good luck with that," Tsuna said, hesitating a little.

He watched Reborn head off down the highway, before realizing what he was doing. 'What am I hesitating for?' Tsuna berated himself. 'For Ieyasu, it's enough to just think, "He's interesting!" Just ask already!'

Still, his hand hovered uncertainly over the menu he had opened. Squeezing his eyes shut, Tsuna pressed the last button.

~.~.~

"Just a coincidence after all," Reborn mused. He didn't even know if he was disappointed or relieved. Well, that part of it was a coincidence. But the rest…

The chime of an incoming message pulled him out of his thoughts. Tapping at the notification, Reborn stared in surprise for a moment, before chuckling again.

It was a "friend request."

In the real world, Reborn wouldn't admit to a single friend, would claim he had no need for things like that, and "Leon" had none either. But it was true — in this illusionary world, you could become anyone. Everyone wore a mask, their true face hidden. Their identity, goals and motives were a mystery…

"Alright," Reborn said, reaching out with a smirk, "I'll accept this quest hook."

~.~.~


	3. Bonus Dungeon

~.~.~

**Title: **Inheritors of Flame**  
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**Summary:** The virtual reality world of the game "Inheritors of Flame" was a chance to become anyone. It was a place where even an ordinary teenager could end up in a battle with the world's greatest hitman, among other incredible things.

**Notes:** Haha, man, I suck at this game mechanics stuff.

~.~.~

**Chapter 2: Bonus Dungeon  
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Even though Tsuna's guild consisted of only six people, making any sort of announcement to them was always a fiasco, to put it mildly. Tsuna firmly believed that they were all friends, but… their very colorful personalities always ended up clashing.

After Tsuna finally explained to them what had happened, the reaction was suitably exciting.

"My deepest, sincerest apologies, Boss!" one of them wailed, dropping into _dogeza_ and banging his forehead repeatedly against the floor of the guildhall's general meeting room. Injuries in IoF didn't really hurt, as such, but Tsuna still winced sympathetically. "No, apologies are insufficient for this failure! Please accept this pathetic life as poor repayment—!"

"That's really not necessary, C-san," Tsuna assured him.

"It's okay, Bomb man," Chrome tried to help by reassuring his fellow guild member. "Even if you'd been there, you wouldn't have been able to do anything. We should just do our best to support Boss from now on…"

"That's right, Octopus head!" another member roared, equally loudly, but in a very different tone. His ID tag read him as Ryo, though he insisted that everyone in the guild call him 'onii-san,' which ended up looking a little strange at times, since he appeared to be only about sixteen, compared to "Ieyasu's" twenty-something. "As a real man, it's your duty to extremely fix your mistake! Quit trying to skip out on your responsibilities!"

The vast array of nicknames for the one individual originated from the simple fact that no one could pronounce the chosen player name. Looking at the cursor next to his head, Tsuna still found himself mystified. Really, what was "C3H5N3O9" supposed to be? He always meant to look it up, but he could never remember how it was spelled…

Tsuna himself just shortened it to "C-san," while Chrome referred to his favored weapon type. The other three… unfortunately insisted on a nickname that probably came from his pink, messy hair, which had a way of draping that perhaps distantly resembled an octopus.

"Ryo-sempai is right. You can just transfer your items to Ieyasu, if that's what you want," came another unhelpful comment, from the player marked as Shigure. "You don't get EXP from PKing guildmates…"

"Shut up! What do you two know?!" 'C-san' shot back furiously. "You! Baseball freak! Boxing freak!" He jabbed his finger toward first Shigure, then Ryo in turn.

"Argh, you're all too loud!" Lambo complained, his voice muffled as he buried his face in the couch pillow. "He's fine, isn't he? So what's the big deal?"

"Listen here, you useless cow…"

"He's right, I'm fine," Tsuna said quickly. "I didn't even lose anything important. I wanted to talk about something else. I'm sure I'm not the only one that's been having problems. So since we can't take normal quests for a while, I have another idea. Why don't we try taking on the White Tower?"

Silence met his pronouncement, but Tsuna refused to fidget awkwardly.

"Um, but isn't that place…?" Shigure trailed off uncertainly.

"That's one of those weird areas," Lambo groaned. "Are you crazy? No one's made any headway in two years. It's a total waste even trying!"

"Our guild might be small compared to some of the ones that tried, but we're all pretty skilled," Tsuna insisted. "And I'm not saying we absolutely have to beat it. But aren't you curious? Its a bit late to start today, but maybe tomorrow…"

"It sounds like an extreme challenge," Ryo agreed. However, before Tsuna could get his hopes up, he continued, "But I can't make it. I've got a lot to do at the boxing club at school. This is my first year, and I've got to extremely prove myself to my teammates!"

'School…' Tsuna thought, hiding a twitch.

"…Actually, it's the same for me. We've got extra training for the upcoming game. I just logged on to tell you," Shigure admitted. His usual smile was uncertain as he glanced at Tsuna as if to gauge his reaction.

Tsuna smiled. "Oh, okay. Good luck!"

"Yeah... We can all go on a big adventure after the game, okay?" Shigure suggested, still a bit hesitant. Tsuna waved him off.

"Um… I have some stuff too, this week," Chrome said quietly. He couldn't even meet Tsuna's gaze, staring at the ground and wringing his hands nervously.

"It's okay, really," Tsuna tried to assure them. "I understand, you guys! RL stuff is important. This is something we do for fun, so it's not like you're obligated to be here! We can always meet up later, that's all."

Slowly, everyone seemed to believe him.

"That's good," Shigure sighed, only a little guilty now. "Listen, I gotta go. I'm supposed to help my old man… I'll PM you later!"

"You're an extremely good guy," Ryo praised him, clapping Tsuna on the shoulder on his way out.

Chrome just bowed deeply before departing.

"…I'm so sorry, Boss!" C-san burst out, trying to prostrate himself again until Tsuna stopped him. "I also have something to take care of… But I swear I will make it up to you! As soon as I have enough money to—!" He clammed up rather suspiciously, fidgeting. "I-in any case, I promise I'll see you soon!"

"It's fine," Tsuna repeated. "I'll see you later."

After the others had logged out, Tsuna glanced at Lambo, still lounging on the couch. "Not a chance," the last member of the guild said, not even bothering to open his eyes. Tsuna sighed, unsurprised.

To be perfectly honest, Tsuna hadn't expected that absolutely no one would agree. It was… a bit of a disappointment.

There had been times when some of them couldn't make it. Around exam time in particular, half of the guild wasn't up to playing, and Chrome, Lambo, and C-san kept incredibly erratic schedules themselves.

But this was the first time that all of them and not Tsuna would be otherwise occupied.

And trying to take on something like that area alone just didn't feel right, not to mention being completely insane.

He glanced at Lambo again, who appeared to have gone to sleep — though, of course, he had to be at least mostly awake, or the system would have automatically logged him out.

With a sigh, Tsuna plopped down on the couch opposite him and navigated to open the game message boards. He might as well do some research….

~.~.~

With a sigh, Tsuna glanced over his friends list one more time. Even Lambo wasn't logged in — somehow, an incredibly depressing state of affairs.

Tsuna had managed to kill a few days combing the message boards for information and getting supplies. The others had dropped by a couple times, but none of them could stay long enough to come along on this kind of venture. Tsuna had assured them that he didn't mind and let them know not to expect him back for a while, before setting out on his own.

Still, now that he was as ready as he would get and almost literally steps away from his destination, Tsuna found himself hesitating.

It had been a long time since he played alone. True, their guild often went their own ways, but they were always there, if you needed help or even just company. But now all the names on his list were grayed out, and…

Tsuna paused. That wasn't entirely true — there was one name that was green and active. 'But is it okay to ask him? He's a solo player, isn't he?' Tsuna thought. 'And we only met once. Well, twice, but then he PKed me the first time… Wouldn't it be weird just to invite him to party with me all of a sudden?'

His finger had been hovering nervously over the message icon, but Tsuna stopped suddenly, his eyes narrowing.

"I'm doing it again," he realized. "Ieyasu isn't a wimp like this! He wouldn't hesitate!"

Ieyasu wasn't a loser that no one wanted on their team! His tentative offers didn't get shot down so quickly, so derisively that he stopped ever asking! No one would ever say to Ieyasu, "Yeah, right! As if I'd ever go near such a no-good loser!" And even if they did, Ieyasu wouldn't let that stop him!

A beep of confirmation brought Tsuna out of his mental rant. "Ah," he let out, staring at the menu — he'd pressed _Send_ without realizing.

The next chime, an incoming message, made Tsuna jump. Tentatively, he opened it… then brightened, surprised but elated.

~.~.~

Traveling between areas in IoF was accomplished mostly using "highways" — walking a few steps along one, players were offered a list of destinations that consisted of other areas that lay along the highway according to the world's theoretical geography, along with additional lists for other, intersecting highways.

(Much time and effort had been expanded by players in trying to create some kind of cohesive world map, with little success.)

Fortunately, although the characters were supposedly traveling along these long roads, arriving at a destination was almost instantaneous, once it was selected.

That meant, of course, that you didn't get to see someone approach from a distance. Instead, a much mocked effect was used — a sudden gust of wind would _whoosh_ through, with a distinctive sound, and kick up a cloud of dust; from the dust, the blurry silhouette of the arriving player would appear, then quickly come into focus. And, viola, a player would be standing at the arrival point.

It was like something straight out of a very stereotypical western flick.

Tsuna looked up, excited and nervous, at the familiar whoosh sound cue. Out of the virtual dust kicked up by the sudden wind stepped out…

"What… What are you even supposed to be?" Tsuna wondered helplessly, staring at Reborn's newest outfit.

"You said you wanted to go exploring," Reborn said, shrugging and tipping back his oddly-shaped helmet, "but I already did the jungle explorer… So I came as a conquistador."

Tsuna, never the most devote student, looked at him blankly. Frankly, he didn't care about any theoretical historical significance of Reborn's costume. All he cared about was how ridiculous the clown-like thick ruffle collar looked.

"Maybe knight armor would have been more appropriate. This looks to be more of a crusade," Reborn mused as he looked thoughtfully at the area — the dungeon — they stood in front of.

The so-called White Tower — a pure white round spire loomed over them, taller than any sky scraper. If it had a top, they couldn't see it from the ground, the ivory structure simply stretching endlessly into the sky.

There was only one entrance, a set of massive double doors. This was one of the nine unconquered dungeons, called Hell Holes by the many players they had defeated.

"No costumes," Tsuna said firmly. This was an absolute must, if they were going to die a few — dozen — times together in the near future.

He ignored Reborn's look of disappointment — if he wanted to play dress up, he should have gotten an avatar to match, something more petite and less tall, dark, and handsome.

~.~.~

It had taken Tsuna several moments to understand why he felt so uneasy and tense as they approached the tower. The reason was quite simple — there was no BGM, not even the usual "lonely wind blowing by" noises of empty wasteland.

Instead, there was dead silence. Even the giant doors swung open without a sound.

Conversely, their footsteps, as they stepped inside, were unnaturally loud — Reborn's expression twitched a little, his hitman sensibilities uneasy with this vulnerability.

When a tense, horror-film like soundtrack started up, he huffed. "They're laying it on a bit thick."

Tsuna hummed distractedly, his attention occupied by the interior of the tower.

It appeared completely hollow, the concave inner walls stretching upward into a single point of pure white. The only features breaking up the smooth walls were narrow windows seeming randomly spaced across the tower's height and a spiraling staircase, hugging the wall as it climbed higher and higher.

Trying to follow its path up with his gaze made Tsuna dizzy, and he had to close his eyes for a moment.

"So what is this place supposed to be?" Reborn asked. "I don't see anything all that… well, anything at all, actually."

That finally made Tsuna turn to stare at him. "You don't know?" Tsuna said incredulously. "Why did you agree then?"

"I've heard a little. It's supposed to be some unbeatable area, or something like that. It sounded interesting," Reborn said, unconcerned.

As someone who didn't spend much time talking to other players — if you didn't count blazing insults hurled his way as talking — and skipped through as much NPC dialogue as possible, Reborn remained largely unaware of certain game aspects. Since those were generally the aspects he also didn't care about, he did nothing to rectify that state of affairs.

And the reason he accepted… Well, it was true that he had been interested, though not regarding the mysterious dungeon.

Truthfully, Reborn had been a bit surprised that Tsuna even had the guts to invite him. He did his best to project a very "solo" image that put off offers from all but the most arrogant of players.

"Yeah… This is one of nine special areas. They're scattered all over the place, but they're all pretty well known for, well, killing lots of strong players. No one's ever been able to make much progress in exploring them. They're even called the nine Hell Holes," Tsuna explained. "Are… you going to be okay? I mean, I expect we're going to be dying a lot."

Reborn shrugged. Being killed by the game, rather than another player, carried a much lighter penalty, and he didn't really care that much in the first place.

"What about you?" he asked. "Why did you decide to go to a crazy place like this, alone?"

"Well, I guess you could say… If it's your policy to take every quest with bugs, it's mine to take all the ones about game lore and history," Tsuna said slowly. "I really love this world, and I want to know everything about it — about the ancient ones, about the Boxes, about Flames…"

'I need to know, now,' he thought to himself, frowning a little. 'This is the only lead I've got, about _that_…'

And then Tsuna made a monumental mistake, by adding, "Anyway, it's not like I'm trying to beat this area or anything…"

"Unacceptable," Reborn pronounced sharply, making Tsuna tense instinctively. "I absolutely won't accept that kind of useless attitude. We're going to beat this thing. I don't do things by halves, and I don't fail. You got that?"

"W-what? That's just unreasonable!" Tsuna protested. "The Cavalry only got about twenty floors up, and they're one of the strongest guilds! We don't even know how many floors there are! There's only two of us!"

Reborn looked incredibly unconcerned with these perfectly reasonable points. "So what if it's just us? Why do you need anyone else? You've got me," he said.

That kind of… self confidence left Tsuna speechless.

Considering the matter closed, Reborn went on, "What do you mean, twenty floors? It looks like it's all clear all the way up."

Something about the words made Tsuna's lips twitch into a rare smirk. Instead of answering, he turned and began to make his way toward started from opposite the massive doors. "Oh, you'll see," Tsuna said, as he started to climb the stairs. "It's really something."

His eyes narrowing, Reborn followed him up the stairs.

Ahead of him, Tsuna passed by a window, his silhouette blurring in the strangely strong beam of light that shone through it. Come to think of it, all the windows in the tower shined with the same strong light — no matter what direction they faced, Reborn realized, squinting against the light beam as he passed in front of it himself.

He fought back a grimace as his vision was completely obscured by light — the game playing its usual visual tricks, which no amount of experience or skill could properly counter. It always made the seasoned hitman's instincts uneasy.

When Reborn's vision cleared, even he had to give a slow blink in surprise.

The pristine white interior of the tower was completely gone. Instead, they were standing in the clearing of a fairly standard jungle, much like the one he and Tsuna had gone bug hunting in. Tilting his head back, Reborn could see what looked like floating white stairs spiraling up into the sky, from somewhere in the distance.

Tsuna was definitely smirking, a little. "Every 'floor' in the White Tower is a whole new area," he said. "Of course, the monsters and traps are all top-tier."

Slowly, Reborn smirked back. This was getting interesting after all.

~.~.~

"There it is! We're almost there!" Tsuna exclaimed, as the pair skidded around a corner.

Indeed, the spiraling staircase out of the level was just up ahead, faintly glowing and supported by absolutely nothing resembling the laws of physics.

With a lowing call that was more akin to a roar, a massive bull-headed monster followed just behind them. Unable to make the same sharp turn, it crashed into the stone wall with enough force to make what felt like entire maze tremble.

Tsuna didn't so much as spare a glance over his shoulder. Neither did Reborn. The intrepid pair simply put on an extra burst of speed in their bid for the staircase. They made it just in time, taking the stairs in twos and threes. With a last cry, the minotaur monster tried to grab for them, but even as Tsuna stumbled, Reborn dragged him up and onward.

The light being emitted by the stairs grew brighter until it completely drowned out their vision, masking the transition between levels.

However, surprisingly, they emerged not into another recycled game area, but into a circular chamber much like the tower's ground floor — smooth white walls, a staircase circling upward along them, and an empty white floor, onto which Tsuna gratefully collapsed.

Technically speaking, he wasn't physically tired in the least. There was no stamina mechanic in IoF, so you theoretically marathon play as long as your HP and Flames, and recovery items, lasted. However, practically speaking, there was definitely mental fatigue involved, as well as a psychosomatic effect that told you your body was tired, even if it had no reason to be.

"Where did the maze even come from?" Reborn wondered, by comparison looking ready for more — though even he had at least lost another jacket. "I've never seen that area before."

"It's a special zone that's only available twice a year, when the tides are super low, or something," Tsuna said, not even bothering to look up from his sprawl. "'S not very interesting though… really cheap, too. Insta-death traps everywhere…"

Reborn made a vague sound of acknowledgement. On their headlong sprint through the level, Tsuna had handily avoided those traps, for the most part. However, some of them were simply unavoidable, since there was no way to predict them — they didn't even exist before materializing, already sprung.

Thus, even Reborn and Tsuna had ended up having to redo that level three times. Which also meant redoing all the levels before it, since they respawned at the ground floor.

"And what about this?" Reborn asked, looking around.

"Every seven levels, there's one floor that's like this," Tsuna said, sitting up slowly. "It's safe, and it's a check point. We'll return here from now on, until we quit the dungeon or reach seven more levels up. At least, that seems to be the case. The Cavalry never made it to level twenty one — twenty two, if you count the ground floor."

"I guess we can take a breather here, then," Reborn decided, settling on the smooth floor next to Tsuna. "And you don't know how many floors there are?"

"Probably fifty," Tsuna said. "Seven sets of seven each. It's always sevens in IoF, and I heard that the levels are grouped by the predominant Flame type of the monsters. So, fifty floors. Unless it really is endless."

"Fifty? Seems like a hassle," Reborn commented. "Are the other 'Hell Holes' like this too?"

Tsuna frowned for a moment, thinking. "No? Not exactly. I've only been to Mermaid Forest myself, but I heard they're all different. They're all pretty ridiculous though. I mean, Mermaid Forest is all underwater, somehow, and there are all these currents that you can't see and can't really escape if you get caught. And if you get caught, it throws you into an insta-death trap. And you can't make a map of the currents because they keep changing. It was terrible."

He made a face of disgust just remembering.

"Still, it sounds like it might be better than this," Reborn said.

"Maybe… But this one is the first one," Tsuna said. His expression turned reminiscent as he thought back. "I remember when it first appeared. It felt like the entire world was shaking…"

"Is that why you think this place has something to do with this world's backstory?" Reborn wondered. His experience with video games was limited, but if anything, the White Tower seemed more like bonus dungeon, than something integral to the game's storyline.

"That was a server crash," Tsuna said blandly. "Actually, each one appeared after a server crash." He leaned back, staring up into the seemingly endless tower above. "But the reason I think there might be something here… We know these nine areas are connected because they all have the same first part in their title."

"Like areas that are next to each other," Reborn guessed.

Generally, areas that shared a border, between which you could travel on foot without using a highway, were grouped together by having the same title, but different subtitles. For example, the city, shrine, jungle, wasteland and coast around Tsuna's guildhall were all part of the Minamoto region, and their names reflected that — "Minamoto: The City of Beginnings," "Minamoto: Old Shrine," "Minamoto: Northwest Forest, Transformed," and so on.

"Kind of," Tsuna said. "But I think it's more like when guilds have territories in different places. Like the Cavalry. There's Cavalry: Colosso Base, or Cavalry: Sanmon City Base, and a bunch of others. All the Hell Holes are called The Chosen, and I think that's because the bosses at the end of them are part of a group…"

As Tsuna spoke, Reborn opened his menu. He hadn't actually checked the area name, just noticing that it was something silly and overdramatic. Now, seeing it in full, his eyes narrowed.

"What did you say this area is called?" Reborn asked evenly.

Tsuna glanced at him with surprise, but said obligingly, "The Chosen: Path of Endless Light. Everybody just calls it the White Tower though. Your interface isn't Japanese, right? Is it really different?"

"…No," Reborn said. "It's about the same."

There was no way he could have explained that, in Italian, the word for "Chosen" was closer to "Selected" — the same as the Arcobaleno's title.

'Another coincidence,' Reborn thought. Was there some greater meaning to it, or was he just getting paranoid? Neither option sat well with him.

Tsuna studied him for a moment longer, not entire convinced, but eventually went on, "…Right. Well, anyway, it's because of those bosses that I want to explore the Hell Holes. If you ask the NPCs about the areas, they don't say much, just that they were created by the power of the Chosen, and stuff like that, but if you ask about the Chosen…"

Getting answers or even just hints out of NPCs was always a frustrating experience, requiring guesswork, bullheadedness, and lots of luck. In theory, the system was supposed to recognize certain key words and phrases and queue up certain dialogue trees in response, but getting the dialogue tree you wanted often meant going through every possible combination of relevant terms until you got the NPC to spit out that one nugget of useful info.

Case in point, asking about the Hell Holes yielded nothing but rehash of how they came from the power of the Chosen. There was only one question that had ever gotten Tsuna any further information — when he asked why the areas took those shapes, the NPC vaguely stated they reflected the hearts of their creators.

But in the end, everything circled back to the Chosen.

"They're supposed to be those who hold a fraction of the power of the ancient ones," Tsuna said. "But the power of the ancient ones is the Flames. It's weird."

"Doesn't that just mean they're going to be really strong? Maybe they'll have the strongest Flames," Reborn said.

The look he received in return was almost insulting, as if Tsuna couldn't believe that he would say something so ridiculous.

"Leon-san," Tsuna said, "the only 'sentient' enemies that have Flames are other players. That's the premise of IoF — that only special people can use Flames, the power of the ancient ones. And that's the players. Everything else is just Box Weapons going wild. But they're not talking about Box Weapons or any kind of object. I'm sure the Chosen are supposed to be people. The thing is… NPCs don't have Flames, ever. Only players do. So are the Chosen players? Special NPCs? Or are they Other?"

It would be strange for something that was such a consistent rule to change. But players had never served as bosses before. Even the player characters who were actually administrators — who all had incredibly similar designs, making them easily to identify — only showed up rarely, to settle disputes between players, and never in battle.

"No matter what it is, I think it'll tell me more about what Flames are," Tsuna concluded. "Where they came from, what they're for… why they exist."

"…That does sound interesting," Reborn said.

After all, the Flames in this world were so similar to the Flames in the real world that it couldn't be a coincidence. Someone very central to the creation of IoF, of the entire VR system, knew about the existence of Flames… and quite a bit about their nature. Reborn was interested to see what claims they would make about that power's origin, even if it was all just within the context of a game.

Tsuna had turned to stare at him in surprise. "Really? You… don't seem like some who cares about the game lore," he said dubiously. "I mean, do you even know how the Box Weapons are supposed to have appeared?"

Reborn shrugged, feigning indifference. "Alright," he declared, "break's over. Time to get back to work. Those answers aren't going to find themselves! Now are they, Ieyasu?"

Contrary to his words and demeanor, his smile was very unfriendly.

'…Don't get mad at me just because I'm right!' Tsuna thought.

"I'm not mad," Reborn said, his smile widening.

He was definitely mad.

~.~.~


	4. Final Boss?

~.~.~

**Title: **Inheritors of Flame**  
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**Summary:** The virtual reality world of the game "Inheritors of Flame" was a chance to become anyone. It was a place where even an ordinary teenager could end up in a battle with the world's greatest hitman, among other incredible things.

**Notes:** The mystery deepens. Supposedly.

~.~.~

**Chapter 2.5: Final Boss?!  
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Tsuna groaned as he finally respawned. They had been so close! The forty ninth floor! He was certain the boss level was within their reach.

But unfortunately a particularly cheap trap had managed to take both of them by surprise — and then insta-death, right back to the forty third floor checkpoint.

"We'll make it on this next run," Tsuna swore to himself — though of course the boss itself was bound to cause at least a few deaths as well.

"About that," Reborn spoke up, having respawned next to Tsuna. "It's going to have to wait. I've got a job to do."

The words took Tsuna by surprise, and their meaning took a moment to register. "W-what? But we're…" Tsuna bit back the rest of his instinctive complaint. "Right. Of course, RL stuff is important…"

"I need… about fourteen hours. So take a break, then we'll start from the bottom," Reborn said. He glanced at Tsuna speculatively. "You probably need it. We've been at this for days already."

Had it been that long? Tsuna had lost count a while back. They'd taken a few short breaks for food and naps using the "idle" function — leaving your avatar still running in the game, so you didn't lose your place, while you logged off, but that only worked if you had someone in your party to stay behind and keep watch.

Tsuna glanced at Reborn, expecting another question about why he had so much free time, when he was pretty sure it was still the middle of the week, but Reborn didn't comment on that.

"I mean it," Reborn said. "Full meal and sleep for at least nine hours. Probably a shower too."

Of course, Reborn himself needed a lot less than that, but he was a trained hitman and an Arcobaleno besides. He actually had several jobs lined up, but the rest could wait. He did so hate to leave things unfinished…

It was a shame that, after they both logged out, they would have to start from the bottom of the tower all over again and the floors would be randomly generated anew, so their hard won maps would no longer work. But Reborn was certain it would go easier the second time around.

"Right! You too!" Tsuna agreed, breaking out into a beaming smile. "I'll see you in fourteen!"

The last thing he saw before the virtual world dissolved into light was Reborn raising one hand in acknowledgement.

~.~.~

Sitting up slowly, Tsuna pulled the VR headset off and blinked groggily. He rubbed at his crusted eyes and looked around his room. It was as messy as always, and beginning to smell a little off as well.

With a sigh, Tsuna stood — swaying for a moment — and made his way to the window. Fresh air blew in as he slid it open. To his surprise, it was late afternoon. What kind of job did his temporary partner have? He had thought "Leon" was from Europe, where it was now late night.

Tsuna shook his head, dismissing the thought. "Food, bath, bed," he told himself.

After so long in VR, the much fuller sensations of the real world felt strange — the chilly air and goosebumps across his skin, the smooth floor of the corridor under his feet, the faint noise of the television downstairs… It felt like all those familiar things had been absent for a long time.

In a way, they had been. Just how long had Tsuna spent cooped up in his room? 'I'm becoming a hikkikomori,' he thought with a grimace.

"Oh, Tsu-kun!" his mother exclaimed in surprise as he wandered into the living room and made his way to the kitchen table.

Nana's expression brightened as she realized that her son had finally emerged from his lair and wouldn't be disappearing again for at least a little while. She had been worried, and the sight of Tsuna sitting at her table was incredibly reassuring, even if he did look entirely too pale and a bit gaunt.

"I'll whip up dinner in a bit, okay?" she said happily.

Tsuna nodded absently. "No eggplant," he requested. "Thanks…"

He stretched, enjoying the feeling of his own limbs again. In the kitchen, Nana hummed cheerfully to the accompaniment of knives, pots, pans and bowls clinking and clanging. It was pleasant and calming, letting Tsuna drift off mentally as he looked forward to a good meal, a bath, some rest, and then meeting up with Reborn again.

The exact areas used for the tower floors and their layout would be different this time, but he felt like he had a better idea of what they were getting into now. They'd make it to the top this time for sure…

The clink of a plate being sat down in front of him pulled Tsuna out of his thoughts. "_Itadakimasu_," he intoned properly before digging in.

Although she sat down across from him, Nana didn't get a plate for herself. She seemed content to just watch Tsuna eat — ravenously, as his hunger only seemed to grow with every bite. It made him a bit self conscious, honestly. Sometimes it seemed like Nana wanted to say something, but she always held herself back.

…Had she really been that worried about him?

Setting down his chopsticks, Tsuna hesitated for a moment, then said, "I'm going to take a bath, then head to bed. I'll see you in the morning…?"

Nana beamed. "What would you like for breakfast?"

"Um, anything is fine," Tsuna muttered, fiddling with his napkin. He was feeling guiltier by the second. "Everything you make is really good. Do, do you need any help with the dishes?"

"No, I've got 'em," Nana assured him. "Go on!"

By the time Tsuna got back to his room, now clean and somewhat pruney from the water, it was evening and the wind blowing through the open window was cold enough to make him shiver.

He moved to close it, but a flash of something in the dark street made him pause.

Black hair, black clothes, absolutely motionless — Tsuna almost missed the figure standing in the deep shadows between two houses across the street. But the fierce, piercing gaze that met his could only belong to one person.

Tsuna's breath caught, and he froze like a rodent before a predator. Then, flight instincts kicked in. Slamming the window shut, Tsuna dropped into a crouch, out of sight from the window, and scrambled for the light switch. The room plunged into darkness — as if that would somehow help hide him. Without raising his head above waist level, he crawled to his bed and slipped under the covers.

Even to Tsuna's suddenly sensitive ears, there were no strange sounds from outside, and after an indeterminable length of time, he allowed himself to relax.

It was irrational to get jumpy, in any case. If he hadn't come after Tsuna thus far, he wasn't going to now, whatever he might be waiting for.

"He must be so mad. I missed so much school…" Tsuna muttered to himself.

But it wasn't the missed school that was the problem, and Tsuna knew it. To lie in wait outside Tsuna's house in the middle of the night… 'He must be really curious. He probably wants answers,' Tsuna thought.

He frowned, wiggling one hand out from under the covers and studying the palm pensively. It looked normal, exactly the same as before that incident.

'But I don't have any answers. I don't know either,' Tsuna admitted to himself. 'And the only place I know to look for them is there, in that world. That's why… I have to find out the truth, I have to reach the top of the tower…'

With those thoughts, he slowly drifted into sleep.

~.~.~

The fiftieth floor didn't look much different from the six checkpoint levels they had already passed through or the ground floor. There were even more stairs spiraling up, up, up.

But this was clearly the end of the line — they weren't alone.

In the center of the circular chamber floated a large stone tablet. In front of it stood a young man, his back to them. He, like the tower, was pure white — white hair, white clothing, with only narrow lining in deep purple to keep him from just blending in with their surroundings.

This was, without a doubt, the boss.

Tsuna caught hold of Reborn's sleeve, holding him back before he could take a step forward. With his other hand, he was already scrolling through his menu, equipping a new shirt and his cloak.

As Reborn nodded in understanding and managed his own equipment, Tsuna held up his hands in a "frame" shape — the motion shortcut for taking a screenshot. One eye closed, he focused on the stone tablet floating in front of the boss. There was no telling if it would still be there after the battle, and it looked important.

Strangely, there wasn't writing on its surface, but rather three circles composed on seven indentations each.

Exchanging a nod, their preparations complete, Tsuna and Reborn made their way forward. A few steps more put them in the boss's interaction range. His title and basic stats appeared in a floating cursor, and he began to speak.

"Long ago, this world belonged to another race," the boss declared, without turning. "The ancient ones… They held a great power. The light of their souls, made into Flame. But their numbers dwindled, and eventually they disappeared…"

The voice acting was certainly spot on. Every word was dripping with arrogance and contempt. Of course, what he was actually saying wasn't anything new. In fact, it was the same as the game's introductory dialogue.

'I suppose they had to do it like this, since not everyone sits through the whole intro,' Tsuna thought, glancing at Reborn, who was, indeed, hearing this for the first time.

"But their legacy was rediscovered — the Box technology. Pandora's box, left for those that would come after them," the boss continued. "The reawakening of that power transformed the entire planet. Only those who possess the same Flames can claim it for themselves and decide the course of this new world…"

'In other words, players,' Tsuna nodded along.

The players, who possessed Flames, battled each other for possession of the Box artifacts and control of territory. Those with the strongest Flames and Boxes would become the leaders of the ruined apocalyptic world — in theory.

"But their greatest treasures are not so easily controlled," boss said, finally revealing something new and drawing Tsuna's attention. "For that, only the ones possessing power beyond limits will suffice. I am the first! I will claim them for myself and rule over all!"

He turned, spreading arms wide to accompany his dramatic declaration. But his face still could not be seen — instead, the boss wore a white mask, marred only by purple markings under one narrow eye slit and a crimson crescent grin.

The BGM had switched suddenly as the boss turned, launching into a high-tension battle theme. "Wait, we're starting already?!" Tsuna exclaimed. But they were just getting to the good part!

Wings — white and wide — burst from the boss's back, and he floated up. Or rather, the floor suddenly fell away beneath him, and beneath Reborn and Tsuna. Grabbing hold of Reborn with one arm, Tsuna scrambled to keep them afloat with the other, awkwardly hovering over the abyss of the tower below.

Tsuna's eyes darted toward the spiraling stairs, already thinking of leaving Reborn on them, but even as he watched, the staircase shifted and transformed — the white stone becoming scales, the top of the stairs ridges, until it was a giant serpent, no, a dragon coiling along the tower's inner walls.

The dragon roared and took flight as well, though it kept itself pressed against the wall.

Biting off a curse, Tsuna swung Reborn toward the nearest window. Fortunately, the hitman easily landed onto the ledge, perching there like a gargoyle. Most likely, that was what players were expected to do — jump between windowsills, while the dragon spiraled back and forth in an attempt to knock them off and the boss flitted in and out firing projectile attacks.

As if on cue, the boss swooped in, flapping his wings to send a shower of small glowing energy shots at both Tsuna and Reborn. With a burst of Flame, Tsuna darted aside, then turned to fly sharply upward in attempt to get in the boss's blind spot.

Meanwhile, Reborn jumped from his ledge onto another, out of the attack's range. Even in mid-leap, he was already shooting back, but his bullets bounced off a gold-orange spherical shield that had formed around the boss.

"Tch," Reborn clicked his tongue in irritation, before being forced to move again as the dragon returned, its coiling body sweeping along the walls and across the window ledges in an attempt to knock off any players that had taken refuge there. Fortunately, the number of windows had surreptitiously increased when the boss battle began, creating plenty of perches.

It was definitely a Flame-based ability — Sky Flame, if Tsuna wasn't mistaken. He had guessed right, but it felt strange. The boss had started out talking about players, and the way his speech progressed almost made it sound like he was one of them. But Tsuna could already see that the boss had definite attack patterns and all the same weaknesses and limitations as any artificial enemy…

Trying to attack an enemy from behind was just as likely to trigger a special counter as get you a blind spot bonus, but the AI was universally unable to react to anything straight above. It was a quirk in the hit boxes that Tsuna exploited often. It was the same for this boss. Even though he was capable of flight, he seemed to completely miss Tsuna once the guild leader was overhead.

Wreathed in Sky Flames, Tsuna collided with the top of the boss's Flame shield with a sound like a gong. Narrow cracks spread outward like spiderweb, but that alone was enough.

Reborn tried to follow, shooting off his homing arrows of Sun Flames, but the dragon swept back onto the field — forced to quickly switch ledges, Reborn couldn't control his attack precisely, and the boss was able to flit away, laughing mockingly.

'We'll never get anywhere if we have to keep worrying about that thing,' Tsuna thought.

A flick of his wrist, and his orange Box Weapon was in his hand.

"Natsu!" Tsuna called out. "Attack!"

The roaring mass of Flames that burst out bore little resemblance to the cute cub Tsuna had used to search for the lost pocket watch. Natsu's battle form had all the majesty and overwhelming power of a Sky Lion type Box Animal. The lion lunged for the dragon's head and neck, burying both fangs and claws in the scaly flesh and hanging on even as the dragon screeched and soared sharply upward.

That would keep it occupied. Now, all that remained was the boss itself…

~.~.~

Reborn and Tsuna respawned at almost the exact same moment — they had died at almost the same moment too, right after the boss revealed his second, black-winged form.

The two of them stared at each other, then turned to look around. Then, in perfect synchronization, they let out a cry of rage and frustration.

"Aaargh!"

_They were back on the ground floor—!_

~.~.~

In the end, after being forced to climb the entire tower all over again just for a rematch, Reborn would not have accepted anything less than his enemy's utter annihilation. Frankly, Tsuna felt about the same.

The boss of the White Tower finally dissolved into light, after taking Tsuna's full powered X Burner through the chest. The victory BGM had never sounded sweeter.

There were two chimes, indicating that they had gained exp and a cash reward, and a small menu popped up, scrolling through the generic items they had both received — feathers, white stone and other crafting materials, it looked like.

Of course, after a boss battle and the completion of an area, there were also unique items to be distributed. Out of the last particles of the boss's form, two small spheres of light floated down. Their silhouettes solidified — a white Box and a folded note.

Tsuna glanced at Reborn, wondering how they would split their winnings, but Reborn waved at him dismissively. He didn't want either one, not using Boxes and perfectly willing to dumb the deciphering of the storyline item on Tsuna.

When Tsuna reached out and tapped the floating light bubbles, they dissolved as well, going directly to his inventory.

A final message appeared in front of them: _New area unlocked — World Edge: Observatory [Access Restricted]._

Although Tsuna had cut his Flames after the boss was defeated, he hadn't started to fall. Instead, he had hung in mid air seemingly without any means of suspension as the system loaded up the next sequence. And with the last victory message, it was ready to begin.

Gravity returned, though gradually, and Tsuna found himself landing lightly onto a glowing sigil that stretched across the entire tower's diameter — a six point star with an ornate center. When Reborn jumped down as well, the strange transparent floor began to rise, like an elevator.

"Is it taking us to the top, or are we going to log out?" Reborn asked, making his way over to Tsuna.

It was a fair question. Tsuna could only shrug. "It feels like we beat the final boss, and we're going to get the ending credits," he said wryly. Around them, the windows along the walls flashed by, each casting a bright light as they passed. It was almost hypnotic. He laughed suddenly. "Wow! We beat the boss! From a Hell Hole! That was amazing."

The relief and sense of accomplishment made him giddy — and lightheaded. Plopping down onto the glowing lines of the floor, Tsuna leaned back and looked up into the tower's seemingly endless passage.

This was something he could have never felt in the real world. A loser like Sawada Tsunayoshi could never accomplish anything, much less something that entire guilds had failed to do. He could never do anything with his own two hands.

Well, it wasn't just with his own hands.

"Thanks," Tsuna said, smiling up at Reborn. "It was really fun. We should party up again sometime."

"…It wasn't bad," Reborn admitted. Folding his legs, he settled next to Tsuna and glanced up as well.

"I mean it," Tsuna insisted quietly. "I couldn't have made it without you. Probably, I would have given up halfway through. I'm… actually that kind of guy." He pulled his knees to his chest, curling up a little. "The real me, I mean…"

Reborn glanced at him, then shrugged. "The real you, huh…" he muttered pensively.

They had only met a few days ago, inside a game where anyone could become anyone. But even in that time, Reborn could already tell — no matter how many coincidences there were, 'Ieyasu' really was just a simple kid.

He tried to act reliable, but panicked too much and could never make up his mind, complained about every little thing, but accepted all of Reborn's demands in the end. Tried his best, earnestly.

His temporary partner just meant the person he was outside the game — a kid who had trouble connecting to others and probably couldn't claim a single friend. But calling that truant introvert his real self? Reborn wondered about that. Did he ever even talk to anyone outside IoF? How well did they really know him?

What did it even mean, to know someone?

'Ieyasu's' real self was a kid who needed to hide behind a mask to get the courage to show his real self. But what was Reborn, who wore his real face as a mask? What was Reborn's real self, anyway? The heartless greatest hitman? The capricious Spartan tutor?

How was 'Leon' any different?

"Don't discount it so easily," Reborn said, gazing up into the endless kaleidoscope of light. "This world is more real than you think. In the end, every illusion comes from some facet of reality."

Tsuna glanced at him, wide-eyed in surprise. "Do you… really think that?" he asked, chewing his lip. Unexpectedly, he chuckled awkwardly and tried to smile as if making a joke. "Then, do you figure even Flames are real? That would really be something, right?"

It was obviously a leading question, but because it was so obvious, Reborn couldn't find it in himself to be suspicious. Federico had said that Flames in the game matched Flames in real life, which meant that…

'Sky Flames are the easiest to manifest,' Reborn thought, glancing at Tsuna. 'So he probably…'

"Well, they had to get the idea from somewhere," he said neutrally. "There are all kinds of things in the world. It's not a problem, if they're real. I'm pretty good with Flames, and you're not half bad either."

"…Yeah, I guess so," Tsuna agreed, ducking his head. But Reborn could see his smile, and couldn't help smiling as well.

~.~.~

"That was way too long," Tsuna muttered, rubbing at his eyes tiredly as the flare of the systems unsubtle area transition faded away. "What was that tower supposed to be, a Space Elevator?"

"More or less," Reborn agreed.

Tsuna turned to look at him flatly, but his gaze slid past Reborn, to the black starry sky behind him. It was the same no matter which way he spun — space, stretching away endlessly. And, when he ran to the edge of the platform, Tsuna could see the blue and white arc of the world, curving away from them.

"N-no way. We're suddenly in a sci-fi?" he complained.

Reborn snorted. They were able to breathe and talk in basically vacuum. There wasn't much science involved, fictional or otherwise. "Over there," he said, pointing to what looked like a bridge of light, stretching away from the towertop platform, toward what looked like a floating building. "That's probably the new area. Observatory, wasn't it?"

But before they could investigate, a cool, emotionless voice sounded behind them. "Players, that area is restricted."

Reborn had to force down an instinctive motion to draw and shoot, but Tsuna just glanced back, unconcerned. "Oops. Sorry, did we do something we weren't supposed to?" he asked sheepishly.

The one who had spoken, a masked, dark-skinned woman with pale pink hair and black clothing, took a moment to answer. Administrators were always like that, in appearance and demeanor. "No," she finally pronounced. "Congratulations on clearing The Chosen: Path of Endless Light. However, this is a dead end. Do you require assistance returning to a different area?"

Tsuna glanced at Reborn. "You know, I think I'm going to just log out. It's been a long… few days?" He had even lost track of time again.

"…I will too," Reborn said. He sighed a little. "I have all those jobs that piled up…"

"Same here. I've got a lot of stuff I need to get back to," Tsuna said, laughing. "But I'll see you later, okay? Thanks, for everything."

"You keep saying that," Reborn muttered, as Tsuna's form dissolved into light and disappeared. It felt weird — a weird kid.

But his lighthearted annoyance faded away as he spared one last glance toward the administrator's motionless figure and the building beyond, before logging out himself.

~.~.~

The next morning, Tsuna stared into the bathroom mirror with an uncharacteristically serious, searching look.

He looked like a mess — bags still under his eyes, pale, slightly drawn, hair absolutely every which way. But he could also see the shape of Ieyasu's features, though much rounder and softer. Could he really grow up into such a cool-looking guy, Tsuna wondered.

Maybe. After all, the things in that world came from something real. Ieyasu's face was Tsuna's face, one day. The Flames… those too. Tsuna had those. So maybe Tsuna could have Ieyasu's confidence and strength as well.

And he had already decided that Ieyasu wouldn't hide away, pretending that something hadn't happened.

Turning on the water, Tsuna splashed his face and rubbed vigorously.

Nana almost dropped the skillet she was holding when Tsuna came down in his school uniform. "M-morning," Tsuna muttered awkwardly.

"Good morning!" Nana beamed, catching herself. "Breakfast'll be ready in just a minute. What do you want for your bento? Sandwich? Onigiri? Curry?"

"Anything's fine," Tsuna said. Suddenly, his nervousness grew even stronger. He couldn't believe he was really doing this… "Actually, I think I'm going to just go. W-wouldn't want to be late…" Yes, no need to compound his sins…

"But what about lunch?" Nana called worried after him, as Tsuna hurried to the entryway and started slipping on his shoes.

"I'll buy something!" he called back, running out the door. To himself, he muttered, "If I live that long."

For probably the first time in Tsuna's school career, he was early. The streets were empty, as he automatically turned onto the well-worn path to Namimori Middle School, most students still at home. It was probably for the best. Going later, with everyone else, Tsuna would have run the risk of bumping into certain classmates he didn't want to see outside the classroom, and that would be…

It was pure instinct that made Tsuna throw himself aside violently enough to end up skidding across the pavement. He had moved just in time, as the length of a blunt weapon flashed through the place he had been standing and smashed into the pavement.

"Hmm," the attacker let out thoughtfully.

He didn't look in the least bit guilty or remorseful as he drew back his tonfa, his unreadable dark eyes studying Tsuna. It was the teenager Tsuna had seen standing outside his house — the one and only demon prefect, Hibari Kyoya.

"You dodged that well," Hibari said, making Tsuna lose whatever color he had left. Hibari never complimented anyone, and he had made his low opinion of Tsuna known on numerous occasions. This could not possible lead to anything good.

"It, it was an accident?" Tsuna suggested.

Hibari lashed out again faster than Tsuna's eyes could follow — but apparently not faster than his instincts could perceive. Tsuna jumped back, avoiding the tonfa's edge by just a hair. He even managed to land in a ready crouch, then duck aside from the next strike.

This time, Hibari didn't follow up. He drew his weapons back slowly, his expression displeased. "You've always been weak," he said bluntly. "But recently you've changed."

"I haven't! I'm the same as always! Just Dame-Tsuna!" Tsuna insisted, backing away quickly and waving his hands. Even if it was hopeless, he prayed that somehow Hibari would just forget about what he had seen, just then and before.

"No. A weak herbivore like you were before wouldn't have been able to dodge my attacks, and wouldn't have fought back then," Hibari said, absolutely certain, but also clearly frustrated with his own lack of knowledge. "You have experience," he judged. "Who have you been fighting to gain it? Where did you fight them? I won't allow that kind of behavior in Namimori."

Surprise edged out Tsuna's fear, and he stared at Hibari in growing comprehension. Of all the things he had expected, that was not it. 'Wait, but it sounds like all he cares about is… that I learned to fight somewhere? That he thinks I've been fighting?' Tsuna thought, bewildered. 'Compared to me being able to summon fire out of nothing, why are you worried about that?!'

Or had Hibari not seen it after all? The time when he accidentally used his Flames in real life.

"I… It's not really anywhere," Tsuna hedged, flinching a little when Hibari scowled. "Not anywhere in Namimori! It's, well, you know… in a game."

"You've been fighting in a game," Hibari repeated tonelessly.

Tsuna simultaneously shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, it's the VR system. It feels like you're really moving your body, like in real life, so…"

"VR," Hibari repeated, committing it to memory. "And the other thing too?" When Tsuna blinked back uncertainly, he elaborated, "That orange fire."

Swallowing heavily, Tsuna said, "I… I guess so."

But Hibari only nodded sharply in confirmation. "Don't do that again," he ordered. "Protecting the order in Namimori is my duty. A herbivore like you shouldn't get involved."

"Yeah, I don't what came over me," Tsuna chuckled awkwardly.

He knew, of course. He had forgotten that he wasn't Ieyasu.

It had been right after he and his guild had managed to track down a group of players who had been harassing newbies around their guildhall. Minamoto, the town above their base, was a starter city, so there were many new players in the area. For the most part, more experienced players stayed away — there were no good rewards to be had in a low-level area like that. But sometimes, some guild or group would try to slip in and start messing with the newbies, for fun or for easy spoils.

Tsuna's guild had the self-imposed duty of keeping Minamoto safe for all players — Tsuna wanted everyone to be able enjoy IoF just as he had. After tracking down the newest group of would-be harassers, he had made sure to impress on them what a bad idea it was to trespass on the guild's territory.

It had been a hectic few days and nights, but Tsuna had felt that sense of accomplishment the next morning, yawning as he headed to school. His thoughts had still been full of IoF, and the guild, and Ieyasu.

So when he glimpsed a group of thug-looking high schooler types looming over a redhead about Tsuna's age, in the uniform of a local private school, Tsuna just… hadn't thought.

"Hey, cut that out," he had called out, stepping up to the huddled group with a frown but no sense of fear.

It was only as they towered over his real short self, that Tsuna began to remember that he wasn't that kind of person, he didn't do those kinds of things. But by then it was too late. He still couldn't bring himself to back down — it would have felt too much like Ieyasu backing down.

Then, it was him the bullies were looming over, sneering and threatening. One of them threw a lazy punch, and Tsuna just… reacted.

He had dodged aside, instinctively bringing his fist into his opponent's solar plexus. But unlike Ieyasu, Tsuna had a Strength stat close to zero. His attack was completely ineffective, making the bully chortle.

Tsuna's concentration had been throw off, and while he was caught flat footed, another bully threw himself at Tsuna's back. Linking his arms under Tsuna's, the older boy had lifted him off the ground.

"Go for it! He won't be getting away now!" the one holding Tsuna yelled to his friends.

Plenty of enemy players had tried that on Ieyasu, hoping numbers would cover the disparity in power. It was just instinct again for Tsuna to twist and kick off, flipping upside down. One freed hand had clamped onto the bully's shoulder for balance, then Tsuna completed his flip, over the bully's head, and kicked his opponent in the back between the shoulder blades.

This time, he didn't rely on his own strength alone. A bright Flame sprung to life on his forehead, and wisps trailed around his hands and feet as Tsuna leaped away and landed neatly well out of reach.

The bully had been sent flying, colliding with his two buddies and dragging them along until all three collapsed in a single heap. Picking themselves up and groaning painfully, they had turned to look at Tsuna with fear and disbelief.

They hadn't been the only ones watching. Tsuna wasn't sure when Hibari had arrived, but the moment he had seen the prefect, Tsuna had felt a bolt of realization — where he was, who he was, what he was doing.

He had promptly turned and run back home. He hadn't come out since then.

Until now, that is.

Hibari studied him for an unsettling moment longer, than seemed to dismiss the issue. Instead, he said, "Truancy is against school rules."

"What?" Tsuna said blankly, not having expected the subject change.

"I won't let anyone get away with breaking the rules," Hibari continued. "As punishment, I'll bite you to death."

"You're not even in Nami Middle anymore! It's got nothing to do with you!" Tsuna screeched as Hibari lunged for him, tonfas flashing.

~.~.~


	5. IRL

~.~.~

**Title: **Inheritors of Flame**  
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**Summary:** The virtual reality world of the game "Inheritors of Flame" was a chance to become anyone. It was a place where even an ordinary teenager could end up in a battle with the world's greatest hitman, among other incredible things.

**Notes:** Next arc! Not as much Reborn after this though.

~.~.~

**Chapter 3: IRL**

Groaning, Tsuna let himself fall face first into one of the couches in the guildhall's main room. It wasn't possible to get physically tired in IoF, but his head was worn out, stuffed full of half-formed theories and thoughts.

He was alone in the guildhall again. Lambo had been there when Tsuna logged in, on that very same couch, actually. But he had since gotten automatically logged out after falling asleep. Tsuna sighed, feeling a bit lonely.

He lifted his head as a quiet chime sounded. It took Tsuna a moment to figure out what it was for — a logon notification for someone on his friends list. Opening the menu, he scrolled down to the last name, now an active green.

Tsuna didn't hesitate this time, tapping the name and the voice chat icon with a smile.

"Hello, Leon-san? It's Ieyasu," he said as the connection was made.

"Chaos," Reborn greeted him. "What's up? Want to try another unconquerable dungeon?"

Tsuna laughed. "No way, I'm still restocking from the last one," he said.

Dying to field hazards might have had a lower penalty, but it was still there, and given the number of times they'd died and the number if areas they'd had to go through, Tsuna's inventory had taken quite a beating.

"Actually, I'm still trying to figure out the stuff I got from the White Tower," Tsuna admitted.

"Oh, that history of the world stuff you like," Reborn said, seemingly disinterested. "How's that going?"

"Not so good," Tsuna said with a sigh. He rolled over onto his back, staring at the ceiling. "Basically, I got three things — the screenshot of that tablet, the boss's Box Weapon, and this letter. At least, I think it's a letter. It's some kind of document anyway, but I can't read it at all, and the item description says it's in code."

Reborn chuckled. He recognized that frustration. He had seen it often in mafiosi who managed to obtain secret information, only to find it unintelligible. So close, yet so far!

"I think I'm going to ask one of my guildmates to look at it," Tsuna continued. "He's really smart, so maybe he'll be able to figure it out. He hasn't been on lately though…"

The annoying part, to Tsuna, was that the code really did have to be solved manually. Otherwise, if it had been a matter of obtaining some decoding item or having some NPC decode it, he wouldn't have been able to see what was written on the documents at all. He'd just get a "It's in code!" message without being shown the symbols.

"If he can't do it, I'll take a look," Reborn offered. "I've got some experience with things like that."

"Thanks," Tsuna said, beaming though Reborn couldn't see him. "I haven't started on the tablet yet. I think it probably has to do with that 'greatest treasure of the ancient ones' thing the boss mentioned. I've never seen anything like it, so it'll just be more NPC fishing. Maybe I'll throw it up on the message boards and see if anyone else has any ideas."

"So you've been focusing on the boss," Reborn said.

"Yeah. That was an AI enemy, but I don't think I was wrong," Tsuna insisted. "It was based on a player, using their game data. That's why it was called Memory of the First. It's based on the first person to reach Over Rank. His Box Weapon was pretty famous — that white dragon." Tsuna sighed. "I heard he stopped playing a long while back. If it's just a cameo like that, it's basically a dead end anyway."

"So that's why there are nine areas. One for every Over Rank," Reborn said. "Except you."

"It's probably because I still play," Tsuna said. "All the others… no one's seen them in a long time. I wonder if they'll make a special area for me too, when I stop playing."

Reborn took a moment to respond. "…I wonder if anyone will even realize," he said finally. "I'd say it would be too tame to be called something like a Hell Hole."

The teasing comment made Tsuna sit up, scowling. "Oh really? I bet you won't be able to beat it!" he protested. "You'll be stuck attempting to conquer my dungeon forever!"

Laughter came over the voice chat, smooth and low. Huffing, Tsuna leaned back again.

"I'll be busy asking around about the rest of it for a while," he continued, "but after that, maybe we can take down another one, and see if they're really all based on the Over Rank players."

"Fine. I suppose I could find the time," Reborn said imperiously.

Tsuna made an amused sound of agreement, then lapsed into silence. Reborn waited patiently until Tsuna gathered his nerve and spoke up again.

"Um, I'd like to, uh, ask you for some advice," he said haltingly. "About RL stuff. I just don't know what to do. There's this… new guy in my class. He just transferred in, and he's been glaring at me all the time and, uh… following me around. I'm sure of it! It's just a feeling, but I can tell he's always watching me, all the way home from school and… Um, what should I do?"

Even Reborn was a bit taken aback by that. "So in other words, the mysterious transfer student is stalking you," he summarized. "I suppose someone has a bit of a crush…"

"But he's always glaring! He looks so scary!" Tsuna protested. "Like he's out to get me!"

Not to mention, why would anyone have a thing for Tsuna? Much less the transfer student, who was, despite his rough personality, both handsome and smart.

"That's how some guys show their affection," Reborn said sagely. "But if you really think he's out to get you… Do you know him from somewhere?"

"No?" Tsuna drew out. "Well, he looked a bit familiar, but I don't think we've ever met. He's a foreigner, you know, and really memorable."

"Call him out to behind the school after class," Reborn suggested. "He'll either confess or you'll duel it out. Either way, problem solved."

"You're not taking this seriously at all!" Tsuna accused.

"Grow a backbone. You'll be fine," Reborn said callously. If Tsuna could use even a fraction of his in-game Sky Flames in real life, something as simple as stalker would be little threat to him.

"Thanks for nothing," Tsuna muttered, before ending the call.

Sulkily, he plopped back onto the couch and glowered at the ceiling. He supposed he might have been overreacting. It might just be a coincidence that the transfer student ended up in the same place as him during lunch, and after school… and going the same way home… He was always hovering nearby during school hours, too!

It was almost enough to make Tsuna regret going back to school at all.

Tsuna had closed his eyes in frustration, and when he opened them again, a sideways face greeted him. "Guah!" Tsuna yelped, trying to throw himself back, only to end up hitting his head on the couch armrest. "L-Lambo! You're back?"

"Mm, yeah," the teenager leaning over him drew out. "So… who were you talking to, Guild Master?"

"No one! Just this guy I met!" Tsuna said quickly.

Unfortunately, judging by the wicked gleam in Lambo's eye, he wasn't about to let it go that easily.

~.~.~

"Come on, tell me," Lambo whined. He had resisted all of Tsuna's attempts to avoid the subject, going so far as to wrap his arms around Tsuna's waist and cling like a limpet.

"Just… leave me… alone!" Tsuna grunted, trying to shove him off.

It was an absolutely ridiculous scene, and Tsuna became acutely aware of that as someone else stepped into the room, stopped, and stared blankly.

"Oh, hey, Octopus Head," Lambo greeted the new arrival, apparently lacking in any sense of shame.

C3H5N3O9, affectionately called C-san or Octopus Head, made a choking sound. "You stupid cow!" he burst out. "Get off the boss right now!" He lunged for the pair, his hands seeking Lambo's collar, or maybe his throat.

Yet somehow Lambo managed to slip away, putting Tsuna between himself and danger. "Guild Master was being all buddy-buddy with some guy!" Lambo tattled, attempting a distraction. "And he's got a stalker!"

'Lambo, you brat!' Tsuna thought, with the kind of fury well-familiar to every older sibling ever.

"S-stalker?" C3H5N3O9 repeated, paling.

"Please don't worry, I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding," Tsuna said quickly.

"Guild Master is super popular! He's, like… a Casanova!" Lambo butted in. Losing all patience, Tsuna nailed him in the head. Given Lambo's Lightning Flames and their property, it didn't do much.

"There's just this guy at school… I think he's mad at me about something," Tsuna hurried to explain.

"O-oh," C3H5N3O9 said faintly. "W-why do you think that?"

"He's always glaring," Tsuna said. "I'm sure him being around so much is just a coincidence."

"Yes, just a coincidence!" C3H5N3O9 agreed, laughing awkwardly.

Everything about his demeanor screamed awkward, and not in the usual way he was around Tsuna. "…Are you okay?" Tsuna couldn't help but ask. "Is your work going alright? You've been so busy lately. Don't burn yourself out."

"It's okay," C3H5N3O9 said. He smiled strangely. "I'm done with that. I'll be able to see you much more often now."

"So did your girlfriend like the present?" Lambo asked, leaning over Tsuna's shoulder. He wisely still kept the guild leader between himself and their friend. Seeing their blank looks, he elaborated, "That's what you were doing, right? Trying to buy your girl something special? You always got all red and cagey when I asked…"

"You're completely wrong!" C3H5N3O9 barked, leveling a thunderous glare at Lambo.

That waspish expression finally made things click in Tsuna's mind. The hair was a different color, and the features were more European, but now Tsuna could clearly see the resemblance. He chuckled.

When the other two turned to look at him in confusion, Tsuns explained, "Sorry, I just realized — you look a lot like him. The transfer student, I mean."

"Just a coincidence!" C3H5N3O9 burst out. "It's definitely just a coincidence!"

At one point, that kind of sudden vehemence would have taken Tsuna aback. But he had long since gotten used to his oldest friend's… passionate nature. So Tsuna just smiled and agreed, "Yeah. What are the chances of us just meeting in real life like that? It'd be just crazy."

"Ha, ha, ha, just crazy!" C3H5N3O9 parroted, ignoring the blank, disbelieving look Lambo was leveling at him now. As his laughter trailed off, they lapsed into an awkward silence. C-san fidgeted, glancing at Tsuna and then quickly glancing away again. "But, if it did happen…" he said haltingly, "Would it be no good?"

That particular word choice made Tsuna twitch. "I suppose it would be that," he said wryly, though the other two naturally missed the joke.

"Meeting in RL, huh?" Lambo muttered, finally detaching himself from Tsuna and drawing away. "I don't really wanna either. If we met, you guys would probably…" He trailed off, expression pensive.

"It's not that I don't want to," Tsuna hastened to reassure them. "I just think you'd be disappointed. I'm pretty different IRL."

"I suppose so," C3H5N3O9 said quietly, shooting Tsuna an unreadable look.

~.~.~

It was only halfway through school the next day that Tsuna realized he had forgotten to ask C-san about the encoded document.

Distracted, he took a volleyball to the face, again.

The entire class burst into gaffing laughter. Tsuna did his best to ignore them, rubbing at his sore face. The jeering had been worse than usual, ever since he had returned to school, as his classmates seemed to enjoy coming up with more and more humiliating imaginary reasons for his absence. If anyone held any sympathy for him, they weren't willing to speak up.

"Way to go, Dame-Tsuna! We'll win for sure, thanks to you!" someone on the other team mocked him. Tsuna's own teammates just groaned and threw him dirty looks. To be fair, he hadn't exactly contributed much — it seemed his instincts weren't much use in something like a PE match.

There was only the faint prickling at the back of his neck that told him the transfer student was glowering at him again.

Of course, Gokudera Hayato — transferred in from Italy, which had caused quite the stir of excitement, and only a quarter Japanese — had flat out refused to participate in gym class and nothing the teacher did persuaded him otherwise. His impressive glares seemed to scare even the faculty half the time. The fact that he was clearly very, very intelligent despite his attitude confused them even more.

'That part's like C-san too,' Tsuna thought, smiling faintly.

"What are you grinning about, moron?" one of Tsuna's teammates spat acidly. "We're losing because of you!"

Tsuna didn't try to argue. There wasn't much he could say, given that the other team had more than twice their points. It wasn't long before the coach blew the whistle, calling an end to the class. Naturally, Tsuna's team had lost, and their glares showed just who they blamed.

As the losers, it was up to them to clean up after the class, but Tsuna's teammates didn't even need to exchange a glance before tossing all the cleaning supplies at him. Tsuna fumbled, trying to catch a mop, as the rest simply fell haphazardly around him. A rag hit him square in the face.

"It's your fault we lost, so you clean up, Dame-Tsuna," one of his supposed teammates sneered, before they followed the rest of the class out of the gym, laughing among themselves.

Tsuna sighed, pulling the rag off. There was no helping it; it was hardly the first time anyway. Bending down, he began to pick up the cleaning supplies, the scattered volleyballs and the leftover trash.

One of the balls evaded his grip, rolling away as Tsuna gave chase. "Wait!" he yelled after it.

Abruptly, a foot stomped onto the ball, pinning it in place. Tsuna looked up slowly until his eyes met Gokudera's usual glare.

"T-thanks," Tsuna said awkwardly, reaching for the ball.

Gokudera let out a sound of frustration gritting his teeth almost audibly. "You're pathetic," he bit out.

It wasn't anything Tsuna hadn't heard before, but it still stung a little. 'Maybe he'll leave me alone if he gets it all out,' he thought without much hope.

"Why… why are you acting so pathetic?!" Gokudera burst out. He jabbed his finger angrily at Tsuna, almost at a loss for words to express his frustration. "You-you, you're so much better than that! You can be so much better than that, than any of them! So why?! Why are you acting like that, Boss?!"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Gokudera cringed, realizing he had said too much.

For Tsuna, it finally came together. That resemblance wasn't just a coincidence. Their meeting wasn't a coincidence. His friend had come to see him — whichever method he used to find Tsuna — only to be disillusioned by the loser "Ieyasu" actually was in real life.

"I'm sorry," Tsuna said. "You must be pretty disappointed. Right… C-san?"

Gokudera flinched, giving Tsuna all the confirmation he needed. His expression twisted, pained and conflicted, but he didn't respond.

Instead, Gokudera spun around and fled the gym.

~.~.~

Trudging home after class, Tsuna found himself drowning in gloomy, uncertain thoughts. What should he do now? How was he supposed to face Gokudera? How was he supposed to face C-san?

This was precisely why he didn't want anyone to see the real him…

Stopping in front of his front door, Tsuna narrowed his eyes, his gaze distant. "The real me…" he repeated.

Why did this have to be the real him? Why couldn't he be Ieyasu for real? So confident, so reliable, so strong… Why did he always have to disappoint everyone?

Tsuna let his head tip forward, his forehead hitting the front door with a low thunk. With every negative thought, he knocked it lightly against the wood. Maybe if he did it enough, a revelation would get knocked loose.

Then, as he brought his head forward once more, the front door suddenly opened. Loosing his balance, Tsuna stumbled with a yelp. Nana, who had come to see who was knocking, stepped aside just in time avoid having Tsuna crash into her.

"Oh, Tsu-kun! Welcome home!" she greeted him, apparently unconcerned that he was now sprawled across the floor of the entryway. Of course, it was a depressingly common occurrence. "Did you forget your key? Don't worry, I don't lock the door. You can just come in!"

Tsuna groaned, both at her airheaded manner and at his sore chin and forehead. He picked himself up slowly and, slipping off his shoes, took a seat on the raised step into the house proper.

"Hey, Mom," he said slowly, "are you… disappointed? In me?"

Nana didn't respond right away, and Tsuna didn't have the courage to look up as she closed the door and sat down next to him.

"I'm not disappointed at all," Nana said, uncharacteristically serious. "But… I'm worried. I don't care about your grades or anything like that. All I want is for you to be able to say, 'Ah, I'm glad to be alive.' And I worry that Tsu-kun doesn't think that at all. I'm worried that you'll look back on your life later and regret all the missed chances that you can't get back."

'Glad to be alive…' Tsuna thought, staring down at his hands. He'd felt that, hadn't he? When he was in IoF, with his guild, even with Reborn at the White Tower. Did that count?

Reborn had said that things in the game were real too, in a way. Those happy times were real. Those struggles were real.

Those friendships were real.

"Yeah," Tsuna agreed, looking up. "I don't want to have regrets later." 'That's why… I have to be as strong as Ieyasu. I can do it. After all, he's part of me too.'

~.~.~

Running all the way back to his shabby little closet of an apartment, Gokudera slammed the door behind him and dropped back heavily against it.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" he chanted, tugging harshly at his hair. Stupid to have just run out like that, stupid to have blurted out all those things. Stupid to have come in the first place.

He slid to the floor, curling up miserably. The feeling of loss and hopelessness was familiar to Gokudera, but he hadn't felt it so strongly and overwhelmingly for a long time.

What was he doing? What was he going to do? What was he even there for? What good was he? For the last two years, whenever those questions flooded his mind, he could turn to the guild, to his boss, and his doubts would fade away. It might have been just a game, but at least there he had a place.

Gokudera's eyes darted to the VR headset, resting in the nest of blankets he had been using as a bed.

…Did he even have any right to judge Boss — Ieyasu — Tsuna? It wasn't like any of them knew the real Gokudera either, the hotheaded mess, the loser no famiglia would accept, the unwanted illegitimate child.

It wasn't even as if he was angry that Sawada Tsunayoshi wasn't the same calm, strong, confident leader as Ieyasu. It didn't matter to Gokudera if his boss was the honor roll class president or the class loser.

What had truly made him so angry was to see his boss treated so poorly and not even react. As if it was normal. As if that was the way it should be — the way it had always been.

'I think you would be pretty disappointed,' Ieyasu had said, looking sad but accepting.

"That's not it," Gokudera muttered. But that was probably what it had looked like. He was such an idiot. How could he have said all those things to his boss?

…How could he even begin to make it up to him?

His eyes darted again to the headset, but Gokudera quickly shook his head. "He won't be there," he muttered to himself. At least, that's what Gokudera hoped. If Tsuna really was there… Gokudera wasn't sure he could handle whatever look he wore — disappointed, hurt, angry…

Better not to go at all.

(How? How could he have messed this up? The one good thing in his life, and he had to go and—)

A sudden chime made Gokudera jump in surprise. He instinctively reached for his phone. The screen had lit up — showing that he had a new message. Based on the sound cue… it was a PM from IoF. Gokudera's hands shook a little as he opened it.

The message was brief and to the point: 'Meet me at the Sanmon-Fiamma Island bridge.'

Gokudera drew a sharp breath, staring at the words with equal parts hope and trepidation. But there was no doubt — he would definitely go. He couldn't do otherwise, after receiving an order from his one and only boss.

~.~.~

Leaning against the railing on one side of the great bridge, Tsuna stared up at the distant form of the White Tower. He was still very close to the edge of the Sanmon territory, so the constant presence that rose over the entire Japan server was clearly visible, though little more than a pale line across the sky.

He still couldn't believe he had been to the top of it.

The familiar whoosh of an arrival made Tsuna straighten, though he didn't turn, simply waiting as his guildmate approached uncertainly.

"Do you remember when it first appeared?" Tsuna asked. "We met right afterwards, so you must have already been playing back then."

"The White Tower? Y-yeah, I do," Gokudera said, stumbling over words a little. The strange topic of conversation had taken him by surprise. "Everything started to shake all of a sudden, then it went dark… There was this… pillar of light. After a while, the area reappeared slowly, then the NPCs. I only found out afterwards that the server had crashed."

Tsuna nodded thoughtfully. "So that's how it was," he said, almost to himself. "I always wondered… You see, I was here. Maybe not this exact spot, but on this side of the bridge, the one that's still part of the Japan server. I had been leaning over, looking into the Abyss, when everything started shaking…"

As he spoke, Tsuna leaned over again, looking down, and Gokudera followed suite. Together they stared into the dark, seemingly bottomless gap below the bridge.

In a familiar combination of dramatics and technological limitations, the edge of every server was marked by massive fissures — referred to as the Abyss by players, they presented impassible empty spaces in the geography of IoF's world. At the boundary of servers, the land or even the sea simply ended, falling away into absolute darkness.

To pass the Abyss and move to another server required the use of a portal gate, which were all run by game administrators. Sanmon, the area Gokudera and Tsuna had passed through to get to the bridge, had three in its central city and served as a travel hub for the Japan server.

The only exception to this was the bridge to Fiamma Island, a small server with a resort theme, which also had no portal gates. It was generally assumed to actually correspond to a resort, since the players native to it were always changing. Many of them were quite strong despite being newbies, prompting many disparaging comments about rich vacationers "paying to win."

Two years ago, Tsuna had decided to try crossing the great bridge to Fiamma Island and had stared in fascination at the split in the land, where the sea on both sides fell in giant waterfalls into blackness. Then, when the entire world began to tremble…

"I fell in," Tsuna said, turning to meet Gokudera's gaze.

Gokudera's eyes widened in surprise, but also confusion.

"It wasn't insta-death, though my account record for what happened next is all scrambled," Tsuna explained. "The reason I'm telling you this is because… down there, I met Ieyasu-san. The real Ieyasu."

'Though I suppose calling him real is a bit of a stretch,' Tsuna thought with a faint smile.

Before Gokudera could ask, Tsuna went on, "I always had this account, but I had a different name when I first started. I did the Contract Breaker side quest just before we met and change my character name to Ieyasu."

Reaching into his pocket, Tsuna pulled out the watch that had been his only proof that what he had experienced hadn't been just some dream or hallucination. He flipped open the lid in a deft, practiced movement and studied the tiny painting inside. The blurred faces seemed to become clearer with time, and Tsuna wondered if it was some coincidence that they resembled his own guildmates.

"I did that because I wanted to become like Ieyasu-san. We only met once, but he was so strong, so confident, so peaceful. I had been scared out of my mind, but just by being in his presence made me feel like everything would be alright and gave me courage. I wanted to become like that too," Tsuna said.

He chuckled, rather hollowly.

"Of course, you saw — the real me isn't like that at all. I'm sorry. All along, I was just pretending to someone else." Turning to face his friend, Tsuna bowed deeply. "So I…. I won't stop you, if you want to leave the guild."

Gokudera blanched.

Leave the guild? The only people who had ever accepted him? He couldn't, it wasn't possible.

"No!" he burst out, instinctively leaping forward and trying to bow. "Please forgive me, Bo— Argh!"

He cut off with a startled cry, matched by one from Tsuna — Gokudera had misjudged the distance and ended up crashing straight into his guild master, their heads cracking together. In real life, it would have hurt, but in IoF, it just made their HP go down by a couple points.

Gokudera flailed, horrified, but Tsuna just began to laugh. Watching him, Gokudera couldn't help but smile sheepishly.

'A person who makes you feel it'll be alright, huh?' he thought. 'Boss, you are already…'

"Two years ago," Gokudera began quietly, "when I met you… I felt like I finally had a place where I belonged. I was just trying it out because I thought the VR technology was interesting. You remember, I was treating the whole thing like a game, like a stupid joke. Since none of it was real, I thought I could just…"

He flushed a little, remembering the way he had been acting when he and Tsuna first met. He had carelessly destroyed part of a town, only to have Tsuna step up and scold him. They ended up in a duel, but when it became obvious he was losing, Gokudera had gone for "taking you with me" with enough explosives to wipe out both of them and what was left of the town.

Tsuna had saved him. When Gokudera asked him why, when it was just a game and he would respawn anyway… Tsuna told him, "Don't treat it so lightly! You're going to make bad habits, and do something stupid like throw your life away in the real world too! Honestly, what are you even doing with yourself?"

And then Tsuna had made him help rebuild the town. "This place — this world — is precious to me and to many other people. They're going to be sad seeing it like this. You can't just act like that, you know," he'd said to Gokudera, who could only follow along meekly, still stunned.

In the end, when the town rebuilt itself, Gokudera had understood — looking at it, it didn't feel like "just a game." He felt like he'd done something right, something good.

"But it's real too, this game," Gokudera said to Tsuna in the present. "We make it real. The things we feel here are real, and the things we do are real. I just… wanted more than that. That's why I… kind of, uh, traced your logon and saved up the money to come to where you are…"

His voice grew smaller and smaller as he admitted it. Put that way, it sounded rather suspicious.

"I hadn't been planning on talking to you or bothering you at first!" Gokudera hastened to assure Tsuna. "I just… got so mad. Boss is so much better than all of those little—!"

He cut himself off, realizing Tsuna was looking at him with an increasingly unreadable expression.

"R-right," Gokudera coughed. "I'm truly sorry, Boss."

Tsuna smiled wryly. "It's fine," he said. "There's nothing to be sorry for. Well, maybe the whole illegally finding out my address thing… But that aside, it's my fault too." He grinned. "Recently, I've decided I'm going to try to become more like Ieyasu in the real world too. Will you help me, Gokudera-kun?"

"Gladly!" Gokudera declared enthusiastically — too enthusiastically. "I'll gladly devote the rest of my life to supporting you, Boss! It's an honor to be allowed to stay by your side, in this world and the other!"

Suddenly, Tsuna had the feeling that he had made a miscalculation. A very grave miscalculation.

~.~.~

"Stop laughing!" Tsuna hissed tearfully.

Reborn didn't listen, only continuing to chortle loudly. He sounded near tears himself, out of mirth. In an attempt to get a hold of himself and let out his extra amusement, he began pounding a fist against his knee. It didn't help much, but slowly his laughter subsided, until it was just his shoulders shaking sporadically as he recalled Tsuna's description of his latest "adventure."

"It's not funny. I'm completely serious," Tsuna insisted. He was almost starting to regret meeting up with Reborn. Which he did mostly to get away from Gokudera's clinging.

"Mm, of course," Reborn agreed, still smirking widely. "It's terrible for you to be so popular."

"You sound like Lambo," Tsuna muttered sulkily.

Patting Tsuna on the head, Reborn added, "What a good little boss you are." To himself, he thought, 'No wonder Federico didn't want to recruit you. You wouldn't fit trying to be someone's subordinate.'

"It was his idea to start a guild, you know. It's not like I thought of it," Tsuna said. "He was the one who suggested we make Minamoto City our territory, so we could keep it peaceful properly. In the beginning, it was just the two of us! All of us are friends, that's all. Calling me a boss is just weird." He sighed. "I wish they hadn't picked up that habit from him."

"Yes, yes. Guilds, what can you do?" Reborn nodded along patronizingly. "That's why I stick to solo play."

'No, I'm pretty sure it's because you're way too arrogant to be anyone's subordinate,' Tsuna thought.

"It's not arrogance if you can back it up," Reborn corrected him, his smirk widening as Tsuna made a face at his mind being read once again.

"But still, meeting him IRL was nice," Tsuna mused. "This world is great, but there's something special about meeting face to face."

This time, Reborn didn't reply, letting the conversation trail off. The two of them watched the throngs of players and NPCs pass by, each on their own personal quest. Sanmon City, with its iconic trios of red torii gates, was busy as always with traffic between servers and all across Japan. It was very different from Tsuna's cheerful, peaceful Minamoto, nestled between the sea and the mountains.

But it was a good place to meet and catch up, if you were usually far apart. It gave Tsuna an idea… But before it could fully form, a different realization made him groan loudly.

"Argh, I even ended up forgetting to ask him about the code!" he complained.

"The one it that document?" Reborn said, to which Tsuna could only nod miserably. Taking pity on him, Reborn offered, "Since we're here anyway, I could take a look."

Brightening, Tsuna quickly scrolled through his inventory and materialized the mysterious sheet of paper. It looked rather ordinary, not even old and worn, but the symbols across it were completely unreadable, to Tsuna.

Reborn accepted it easily enough, but as his dark eyes passed over the first line, something about his easy expression grew stiff. "Hmm… Mind if I keep this for a while? It'll take a bit to decode," he said.

His tone was still casual, but Tsuna found himself instinctively frowning. "Y-yeah, sure. It's no rush," he said. "Thanks…"

Dropping the document in his inventory, Reborn smiled and added, "By the way, what was on that stone tablet anyway? I didn't get a good look." Something about his expression did nothing to relieve Tsuna's growing unease.

As Tsuna pulled up the screenshot he had taken in the White Tower, Reborn leaned in to get a better look. His hand on Tsuna's shoulder felt far too tense.

The image still looked innocuous enough to Tsuna — a mostly blank stone slate, with three circles of indentations, seven each.

It seemed to mean something to Reborn. "Seven in three, huh…" he muttered to himself. "And those are definitely…"

"Leon-san?" Tsuna called out tentatively. "Do you recognize it?"

"I might have seen it before," Reborn said with apparent indifference. "But everything in this game is probably just copied from somewhere. The designers have no imagination. It's probably just a coincidence."

"Well, if you think of anything, let me know, okay?" Tsuna said uncertainly.

Reborn glanced at him, then smirking suddenly, ruffled his hair. "Sure," he said. "I'll do that."

As he headed back to the portal for the Italian server, later, Reborn pulled out the mysterious paper again. He didn't actually need any time to decipher it and he wasn't going to say anything, though he didn't regret lying to Tsuna. It was better that he didn't get any further involved in this, now that Reborn was beginning to see how deep it went.

After all, that message was written in the Arcobaleno Code.

'Verde,' Reborn thought, 'what are you up to…?'

~.~.~

**End Notes:** Fia(m)ma (Is)land - ma-Fia land. Yeah.

~.~.~


	6. Convention

~.~.~

**Title: **Inheritors of Flame**  
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**Last time:** The new transfer student, Gokudera Hayato, was revealed to be one of Tsuna's guildmates. After a short misunderstanding, the two were able to become friends in real life as well. At the edge of the Abyss, Tsuna revealed that he had once met the real Ieyasu in the space between game and reality, who inspired Tsuna to change his player name and to try to become more confident.

**Notes:** More hijinks, and some answers. But not many.

~.~.~

**Chapter 4: Convention  
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The first thing Tsuna did after stumbling into the guildhall's main room was collapse onto one of the couches. He groaned pitifully, making Lambo roll over on his own couch and glance at him sympathetically.

"That bad?" Lambo wondered. "Man, this school thing sounds nasty. I'm glad I don't have to do it."

He didn't exactly like his private tutors, who always scolded him and sneered at his mere existence, but at least they only came by rarely. That left Lambo plenty of time to spend in IoF. He didn't even need to bother doing any of the assignments the tutors left him — they, like his family, had long since given up on him.

"It's over. I'm so glad…" Tsuna muttered letting his loll back against the couch board. "I'm finally free."

It had been the last day of classes at Namimori Middle, before school let out for the summer. However, first, Tsuna had been forced to brave his way through the gamut of semester end exams, which… had gone only slightly better than usual, thanks to Gokudera's dedicated tutoring.

Now, he had a month to relax — and play IoF, naturally.

"Are the others here yet?" Tsuna asked, looking up. Gokudera, he knew would be right behind him, as soon as he got to his apartment. For the last few nights, Gokudera had stayed over at Tsuna's house, after their cram sessions ran late, but today he had insisted he needed to drop by his place and make sure his landlord hadn't stolen anything.

"Chrome's been on all night, but he went out a while back," Lambo revealed. "Shigure logged on, but he's gone up to town for shopping. Onii-san hasn't come yet. But don't worry. We all got the message from you, so they'll be here."

He was right. It wasn't long before everyone gathered — Ryo and Gokudera logging on at the same time and getting caught up in an argument, Shigure and Chrome returning from the town together. Looking over his guild members, Tsuna smiled briefly.

"Okay, everyone!" he called out, getting their attention. "Thanks for coming! I just wanted to do a quick check in, since summer vacation is coming up. I'll be on a lot, C-san too, so if you want to make plans for guild activities, now's the time."

"Ossu!" Ryo and Shigure sounded off, the way their athletics clubs had no doubt trained them.

"But first, I wanted to make an announcement," Tsuna continued. "I know most of us are in Japan. There's going to be an IoF convention in Tokyo on the first weekend in August. C-san and I are both going, and if anyone else wants to, we can meet up."

"Wait a minute," Lambo spoke up before anyone else could. "Why's it always you and Octopus Head nowadays? You log in together, you get off school together, you're going to the convention together…" His eyes narrowed accusingly. "Don't tell me you guys really did meet in real life! You did, didn't you?!"

By the end, he was pointing at them like a prosecutor at a suspect. The rest of the guild gasped dramatically, playing along.

"Don't make it sound like you caught us having an affair," Tsuna protested, because that was what it sounded like.

"You did! You… met!" Lambo declared, scandalized.

"Shut up, you stupid cow!" Gokudera finally burst out, lunging for Lambo, who tumbled off the couch and hid under the coffee table.

"Congratulations, Boss," Chrome offered with a shy smile.

"Yeah, extreme congrats on moving in together!" Ryo agreed loudly.

"We didn't move in together," Tsuna said in his flattest, most stony tone. He sighed, feeling on the verge of a migraine. "But yes, we're going to the same school now."

"Oh, that's cool," Shigure said. "So first weekend of August, huh… Sorry, but I don't think I can make it. We're going to be having extra training on the baseball team." He frowned guiltily, but Tsuna waved it aside.

"Yeah, same for the boxing club," Ryo admitted. "We're going on an extreme training camp in the mountains that week."

"I… can't go," Chrome added last, looking away and fidgeting. He didn't add anything else.

"That's fine. It's no big deal," Tsuna assured them. "I'm just going anyway, so I wanted to see if anyone else could make it."

"Well, I'm coming," Lambo declared, rather forcefully.

Tsuna stared in surprise. "What? But you're…" Not in Japan? A kid?

A sharp, petulant glare from Lambo cut him off. "I'll definitely be there!" he insisted. "I won't let you guys have all the fun alone!"

"We're not going for fun! We have serious questions to ask!" Gokudera yelled, his hands already twitching as if to wrap around Lambo's neck.

Lambo threw him an extremely dubious look and stuck out his tongue.

The meeting completely fell apart from there into the usual chaos, until it was time to log out — Tsuna was still exhausted from the last minute cramming, Ryo's school was still in session, and Shigure had practice early the next morning.

However, Tsuna hesitated before logging out. "You go on, I'll be out in a bit," he told Gokudera. Instead, Tsuna turned back to the main room, where Lambo sat alone on one of the couches, an unusually glum expression on his face.

Physically, Lambo looked about the same age as Gokudera's or Ryo's avatar, a bit older than Chrome. But given the way he acted, Tsuna could guess that he had actually maxed the age up function. In real life, he was probably just a kid — younger than the supposed age limit of twelve. Tsuna felt responsible for him, more than any of the other guild members.

"Hey," Tsuna said quietly, "you know, it's really no big deal if you can't come to the convention. You heard, the others can't either. We're still all going to meet up here, like always."

"Are we?" Lambo asked. His tone was sullen, but also… scared. "We never do anything together. Everyone's drifting apart. And now you and stupid Octopus Head met up in real life. You won't need this place anymore… Is the guild going to disappear?"

Under Lambo's frank, worried gaze, Tsuna faltered a little. "…No," he said, finally. Then, more firmly, "No, our guild won't disappear. Even if it's just me, I'm going to protect it. I promise." Smiling, he reached out and ruffled Lambo's hair. "But even if we end up all going our separate ways, we'll still be friends, no matter what."

"…I'm still gonna come," Lambo mumbled, ducking his head.

"Um… Ask your parents first, okay?" Tsuna suggested.

Lambo shrugged. "They won't care." They didn't care what he did. They'd always been happy to just dump him off in the virtual world, so his noise wouldn't bother them anymore.

Yeah, Tsuna definitely worried about him. He just wished there was something more he could do.

~.~.~

Reborn sighed. Why, he asked himself, did he keep involving himself in this?

"Look, it's not your problem," he told Tsuna. "You don't have to stress about it so much. So he happens to be in your guild. That doesn't mean you owe him anything. It's not your responsibility."

'You're just a kid yourself,' he added mentally, but that argument was bound not to be too useful.

Over the voice chat, Tsuna huffed. "I just happened to meet _you_ and party with you for a bit," he pointed out, and Reborn could just imagine the unimpressed look he would be receiving in person. "It's not that simple. To me, they're not just people I happened to play a game with. They're my friends. If there's anything I can do to help them, I will."

Reborn had joked about Tsuna making a good boss, but he hadn't expected to be quite so spot-on. It might have seemed excessive to get so attached to people he had never even met in real life, but chances were, Tsuna didn't have much else to get attached to.

"I almost wish he would come," Tsuna went on unhappily. "At least then I could get a better read on his situation…"

"Come where?" Reborn asked, distracted.

"To the convention. There's going to be one in Tokyo, and I want to try asking the administrators some questions. So I told the others I'm going, in case they want to meet up," Tsuna explained. "Lambo said he's going to come, but I don't really think that's possible."

"Sounds like a waste of time," Reborn said. "They're not going to tell you anything useful."

"Not about the story," Tsuna agreed. "But I want to ask about… some of the mechanics. I think for this… I might get an answer. It's worth a shot. And it's the only lead I have right now."

Reborn frowned, feeling a twinge of concern. Asking questions about the mechanics? 'About Flames? He's probably still worried about using them in real life,' he thought.

But that was the last thing he wanted Tsuna to go poking around in.

The document they had received from the Over Rank boss had been in Arcobaleno Code and almost certainly written by Verde. It wasn't a letter, like Tsuna had thought, but rather a findings report. There was little context, but from what Reborn could tell, it was from Verde to his unknown backers, regarding the observed use and change in the Flames of players. In particular, the Over Rank.

The jargon was thick and mostly indecipherable, but the entire thing made Reborn uneasy.

He hadn't been able to get in touch with Verde so far, and no one had heard from the Lightning Arcobaleno in a couple of years at least. His efforts to track down the creators and administrators of IoF had also yielded no results thus far.

For Tsuna, who was just an ordinary kid but had become a notable part of someone's massive experiment, to draw even more attention to himself from a group shadowy enough to evade even Reborn…

He didn't like it. It couldn't end well.

Maybe it was paranoia, but "it'll be fine" wasn't a way to think when dealing with something so suspicious… and so far-reaching.

(Not when all the other Over Rank had disappeared from the game mysteriously. Not when his every instinct told him that this went deep, deeper than he could even guess. What if one day, Tsuna just… didn't log in again? What if he just disappeared? What would Reborn do? Would he be able to find some clue to follow then when he hadn't so far?)

'But if it's just answers about Flames, it should be easy to help him out,' Reborn thought.

"Maybe I'll drop by too," he mentioned offhandedly.

He could hear the sheer disbelief from the other end of the line. But you just said it's a waste of time. But you're not even in Japan! Tsuna was undoubtedly thinking.

"…Okay," Tsuna finally said, rather dubiously. "I guess I'll see you there…?"

~.~.~

It wasn't until Reborn was most of the way through clearing his schedule that he remembered that Tsuna didn't actually know about him being an Arcobaleno, or what Arcobaleno were.

Oh, Reborn was certain he could sell it. He'd convinced so, so many people over the years to respect him, despite his appearance. But.

But. He didn't want Tsuna to remember that he actually looked like a toddler whenever they talked from then on. Because he would. No one ever really forgot it. To get away from it was the entire reason Reborn had been playing IoF.

At the same time, Reborn refused to back down now that he had decided to do something.

There were several solutions, but Reborn went with the easiest — find some poor schmuck to go in his place.

It would have to be someone who already knew about Flames, someone Reborn could intimidate into going along with this and then keeping quiet, and preferably someone he trusted at least a little. Someone who played IoF would be nice, just to spare Reborn from having to explain. And also, someone who would have no interest in Tsuna, despite his strong Sky Flames.

Reborn's first thought was Dino. He dismissed it quickly, with a subtle wince — that could only end in tears; Dino's tears, when he inevitably made a mess of it and Reborn had to kill him.

Thoughts of Dino inevitably led to thoughts of Dino's friends, and Reborn smirked evilly.

"You're going to Japan next month," Reborn told Federico.

"I am?" Federico asked. Then, with intuition worthy of Vongola Primo, quickly corrected himself. "Right. I'm going to Japan next month."

"It's nothing big," Reborn assured him, though Federico remained rather tense. "You remember Ieyasu, right? You're going to meet him. And you're going to give him a real quick explanation about how Sky Flames work."

"I am? I mean, right, of course I am." Federico looked increasingly confused. "But what about omertà? Am I recruiting him?"

"No," Reborn said, with no particular intonation.

Federico paled. "O-of course not," he agreed hastily. "I already said I don't want to."

"You're doing it for omertà," Reborn explained, lying through his teeth. "He can already use his Flames, and if no one steps up and shows him the ropes, it's only a matter of time before he causes an… incident. And we would all like to avoid that."

"We wou—? Right, of course we would," Federico muttered, looking a bit shell shocked.

"In any case, I'll be watching the entire time, so no sweat." Reborn gave him a thumbs up.

Federico broke out in cold sweat.

~.~.~

Tsuna had never been to a convention before, and the sights, the sounds, and the sheer press of people amazed him — and intimidated him a little. Without conscious thought, he moved a little closer to Gokudera's side. If nothing else, it would help them to keep from getting separated.

"Hrm, it's pretty different," Gokudera muttered to himself.

"What do you mean?" Tsuna wondered, skittering aside as a loudly laughing group shoved their way past them into the convention hall.

Gokudera shot them a nasty glare before answering. "I went to a few meet ups back in Italy. But they were pretty different." Full of mafiosi, he didn't add. It was more or less common knowledge for the mafia that Flames in IoF were connected to Flames in real life, so many young mafiosi and heirs of famiglia liked to play the game. Italian IoF conventions were inevitably a who's who of the mafia next generation.

Naturally, Gokudera had hated it. His father's family had a long and proud history, with a strong connection to the strongest famiglia, Vongola itself, but Gokudera wasn't part of that family, not really. It was an open secret that his mother wasn't his father's wife, and that he had run away, cutting all ties with them.

The mocking had at least decreased somewhat once he started making a name for himself as a freelance hitman, but even then every so often someone would comment on him being the Poison Scorpion's younger brother, and the whispers still followed him.

Coupled with his temper, it was a recipe for disaster.

But the Tokyo convention was a public one, and the throngs around them were composed of completely ordinary people — high school and middle school students, NEETs, and nerds of every description. Many were carrying computers that, while clearly less expensive than what the young mafiosi had brought with them, were far more intricately customized. A few people here and there were even in cosplay, for their own characters or for famous NPCs.

The festive, exciting atmosphere was enough to make even the suspicious Gokudera relax a little.

"We still have a bit of time before the panel with the admins," Tsuna said, studying the convention schedule. "What do you want to do? We could go to the dealer room or the game room, or…"

He trailed off, interrupted by the buzzing vibration of his cellphone. A quick dance to extract the phone later, Tsuna blinked in surprise at the message he had received.

"Did one of those guys make it after all?" Gokudera asked.

"No, it's from… um, from Leon-san," Tsuna hesitated, realizing Gokudera didn't know about his occasional partner. "I met him a couple months back, when everyone was busy a while, remember? And we…"

"Leon? Wait, that Leon? The solo bounty hunter, Leon? The one who PKed you?!" Gokudera realized, his voice rising with every question.

"It… was a good fight?" Tsuna offered. "Nothing personal! So we ended up becoming friends afterwards. He said he'd come here too, and he want to meet now, on the third floor east balcony, see?"

Gokudera peered at the message on the screen of Tsuna's phone with a very dubious expression. "The third floor east balcony? That's the most out of the way place possible," he muttered. "How suspicious can you get? He's probably some middle aged creepy stalker!"

'You calling anyone a stalker is pretty rich,' Tsuna thought, because while he loved his friends, he wasn't blind to their faults.

"…You can come too?" he offered.

"Naturally," Gokudera declared. "I will protect you with my life, Boss."

Tsuna sighed. "Let's just go, or we'll miss the panel."

~.~.~

Even if he was the youngest, Federico was still the son and potential heir of the leader of the strongest mafia family, the Vongola Nono. He had received all the training that position entailed and absorbed it beautifully.

Thus, he was certainly above something as amateurish as nervous fidgeting, but Federico couldn't deny the urge was there — to tug at the casually unbuttoned collar of his shirt, to fix his suit's cuff links, to fiddle with the small, hidden earpiece and mike.

Either that, or rip it out and throw it as far from himself as possible, like some highly venomous insect. Of course, doing that would probably earn him a sniper bullet to the head. Somehow, somewhere Reborn was doubtlessly watching, and listening.

How had he ended up involved in this mess? Why him, of all people?

Still, Federico wasn't entirely upset. He had to admit — he was curious to see what kind of person Ieyasu was in real life, and what kind of person had attracted the great Reborn's interest to that extent. And it was interest, no matter how Reborn tried to pass it off.

"_He's here,_" Reborn's voice came over the earpiece, pulling Federico out of his thoughts. "_And he's brought a friend._"

There was no time to try to guess what Reborn's tone meant before one of the doors onto the balcony — more like an entire terrace — opened and two teenagers stepped out of the convention building.

The shorter one was obviously Ieyasu. It seemed he hadn't changed his avatar except to age up, and the resemblance was both obvious and striking.

"_He really is just a kid,_" Reborn muttered.

And the other was…

"You?!" Gokudera and Federico exclaimed simultaneously.

"_Bianchi's younger brother? It's a small world,_" Reborn noted. "_I guess the obsessive stalker thing runs in the family._"

"Well, well, isn't that interesting," Federico said, recovering first and offering a cool smile. "I didn't expect to see you here, Smoking Bomb."

"What the hell are you doing here, Vongola?" Gokudera barked, surreptitiously moving to put himself between Federico and Tsuna.

"Oh, it really is him," Tsuna noted. He had never met the leader of the largest guild in person, but he had seen his profile picture. Tugging on Gokudera's sleeve, Tsuna asked, "You two know each other?"

"W-well," Gokudera found himself caught flat footed. He had told Tsuna everything about himself and his family situation, but he had left out the mafia part — both because he didn't want his boss involved in that world and because there was still the omertà to consider.

Reborn sighed. "_And of course he can't lie to his boss…_" Under his breath, he added, "_Attracting wild card like that… He's a Sky alright._" He sounded half put out by it.

"We're both from Italy," Federico said smoothly.

Tsuna nodded, accepting that. "Are you meeting Leon-san too?" he asked instead.

"_Not exactly,_" Reborn snorted.

"Actually, Leon and I came together," Federico gave the excuse Reborn instructed him with. "But he was suddenly called away on some business, so he asked me to meet up with you instead and answer any questions you might have."

"Questions?" Tsuna repeated.

"About Flames," Federico clarified.

"Oh, that. I don't think my questions are something you or Leon-san would know the answer to," Tsuna noted. "That's why I want to try asking the admins at the panel. Speaking of which, we better get going, or we'll miss it…"

"_Stop making it so difficult,_" Reborn complained.

'You're not even the one who has to do all the work!' Federico thought.

"Not those Flames. I don't mean the Flames within the game. I mean these Flames," he said and held out his hand. A small orange flame sprung up in his cupped palm, dancing languidly long enough for the other two to confirm its existence.

It seemed Reborn had been right — neither boy looked particularly surprised at the small display of supernatural power. Well, Smoking Bomb Hayato was from the mafia through and through, so he would have naturally known…

"Mm, Gokudera-kun told me," Tsuna said. He frowned a little. "Does everyone in Italy know?"

'Does that mean I can go home now?' Federico wondered.

"_No,_" Reborn told him.

Federico plastered on a mild smile and forged on ahead. "That's good. I'm glad that you know the basics, but controlling your Flames can be difficult. Since we have the same Sky Flames, I can give you some tips on the practical side of things."

Outwardly, he remained perfectly composed, but the thoughtful, considering look Tsuna leveled at him made Federico fidget inwardly. It was entirely too reminiscent of his father when Nono just knew Federico was trying to hide something.

"Leon-san asked you to show me, didn't he?" Tsuna said. "He wasn't going to come himself from the start, since he only has Sun Flames, so he just sent you. I didn't realize he was that worried about me." He smiled sheepishly.

There was an ominous silence from Reborn.

"Please tell him he doesn't need to worry! Gokudera-kun already explained everything and showed me how to control my Flames," Tsuna assured him. "He's got a split Flame, so even though Storm is his primary, he can use Sky a little too. It really works about the same as IoF too. I just got a bit carried away that one time. It won't happen again."

"That's right, Tsuna-sama and I have everything under control," Gokudera spoke up, his expression still deeply unfriendly. We don't need you, he refrained from saying, with more self control than Federico would have credited such a such a wild Storm.

'He really is interesting,' Federico thought, glancing at Tsuna.

That seemed to only infuriate Gokudera further. "Tsuna-sama," he said, gritting his teeth and making a rather unsettling attempt at a smile. "Vongola and I have something to talk about, so could you wait for me inside?"

Tsuna looked between them rather dubiously, but nodded. "Okay," he said. To Federico, he added, "Please thank Leon-san for me. I really appreciate it."

Federico had to swallow a slightly hysterical chuckle. Like hell he would ever say that. Implying Rebirn had some shred of sentimentality was sure to get him killed — if just witnessing this wasn't enough to earn him a death sentence already.

Why, why did it have to be him?

~.~.~

Once the balcony door closed behind Tsuna, Gokudera dropped all pretense of politeness or civilized manner. "Stay the hell away from him," he hissed in rather crude Italian.

Federico smiled blandly. "I assure you, I have no special interest in your boss," he lied quite convincingly. "I'm just fulfilling a request." And for all that Reborn's running commentary had been annoying, his silence was just unsettling.

"Tsuna-sama is my guild master. He's got nothing to do with that world," Gokudera said, his glare sharpening if anything. "And tell your 'associate' to stay away from him too!"

"I really can't do that," Federico said. He really, really couldn't.

Gokudera's eyes narrowed. "Oh really? Even though you're the son of Vongola's leader? Who can stop you?" But as Federico's expression remained blank and just slightly harassed, Gokudera visibly started to consider the question seriously. Who could make Nono's youngest son do anything he didn't want? It wasn't a long list.

He didn't seem to realize this was question he was better off not knowing the answer to.

"_I can see why Bianchi said he's so brilliant he's stupid,_" Reborn said dryly. He seemed to be content to pretend absolutely nothing out of the ordinary had taken place and a teenager hadn't implied that the heartless number one hitman did silly things like worry about other people.

Federico was perfectly willing to go along with that. "Don't worry about it too much," he said quickly. "It's no one you would know." More blatant lies.

Though he seemed to doubt Federico on principle, Gokudera let it go. "Stay away from Tsuna-sama," he repeated instead. "I won't let you recruit him."

"I wasn't planning to," Federico said.

Again, he was met with far too much skepticism. And he was even telling the truth this time!

Reborn, the sadist, snickered, even though it was all his fault. Federico had done nothing to deserve this — nothing.

~.~.~

Shifting impatiently from foot to foot, Tsuna glanced back toward the balcony. The light reflecting off the glass doors meant he couldn't see more than the vague outlines of the two still out there, but it looked like they hadn't even moved. What in the world were they talking about? And how much longer would it take?

Absently, he pulled out his cellphone and checked the time. "Eh? It's this late already?!" Tsuna yelped. He glanced quickly toward the balcony again, but it didn't look like the other two were any closer to wrapping up and he didn't want to disturb them…

'No helping it,' Tsuna thought. 'I'll go on ahead.'

As he hurried toward the stairs back to the first floor and the ballroom where the administrators' panel was being held, Tsuna attempted to type out a quick text to Gokudera, explaining where he had gone and that he would save his friend a seat.

Given Tsuna's already clumsy nature, that was an obvious mistake.

He didn't see what he crashed into, only suddenly feeling a dull impact across his legs and finding himself tumbling to the ground. His phone skittered away across the smooth floor, along with a pair of thick rimmed glasses.

Tsuna wasn't the only one who groan, and looking up, he realized he hadn't run into something — he'd run into _someone_. The other victim, a teenager about Tsuna's age, with deep red hair, was on all fours, his hands sweeping across the floor.

"My glasses…" he mumbled, squinting.

"Ah! I'm so sorry!" Tsuna exclaimed, quickly picking up the object in question and holding it out to the other boy. "I wasn't looking where I was going… Are you alright?"

Accepting the glasses and slipping them back on, the redhead blinked at Tsuna blearily. "No, it's okay. I was the one sitting in the hallway like that," he said. Smiling self-depreciatively, he added, "I'm not surprised you didn't notice me."

"Well, as long as you're alright," Tsuna said, moving to check his phone over for damage.

"Wait," the other boy said, as Tsuna stood and got ready to go. "You're from Namimori, right?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?" Tsuna wondered, glancing back in surprise.

"Because I remember you. I live there too. My name is Irie Shoichi," he replied, pushing up his glasses. "You helped me out once, against some guys that were pushing me around. I didn't get a chance to thank you, since you took off… So thanks. I appreciate it."

"Um… You're welcome?" Tsuna offered.

Honestly, he had no idea what Irie was talking about. When had he ever helped anyone in Namimori? In Minanoto, maybe, that was something Ieyasu might do, but Tsuna was…

"I guess you don't remember," Irie said. "I'm not really surprised. You were probably pretty worried about using your Flames like that, right?"

Tsuna paled. "…Oh," he said weakly. He remembered now.

Seeing Tsuna's shock and fear, Irie smiled reassuringly. "It's okay, it's okay," he said quickly. "I mean, I was really freaked out at first. Really, really freaked out… But the admins explained it to me, so it's okay. See, I, uh, kinda work for Cervello as a programmer, and they told me about Flames being real and stuff."

"You work for Cervello Inc?" Tsuna parroted, his eyebrows rising in surprise.

Mysterious and previously unknown, Cervello Inc. was the company responsible for the VR system and IoF. Tsuna himself held little interest in the technological side of things, but he had read on the message boards that the hardware had come completely out of nowhere, years if not decades ahead of the closest competitors, and the company holding the patents was so private as to be a nonentity.

Convention panels and in-game centers were practically the only way to get hold of any of their representatives, and even then only the same dark skinned, pink haired female mysteries.

"Just part time, on some of the code," Irie said, pushing up his glasses. "I might have… poked around in the software on my own system. They knew right away and dropped by my house. It was basically, work for us or be crushed by this lawsuit the size of a medium sized country's GDP."

Tsuna chuckled nervously. He could somehow easily imagine such a thing.

"Not that I don't like working on IoF! It's great, absolutely brilliant stuff, and there's benefits too — they covered for me to come to this convention, for example," Irie assured him hastily.

"I see…" Tsuna said slowly. "Then, if you work for them, it might better to ask you, instead of the panel. They probably wouldn't give me an answer out in front of everyone anyway… Irie-kun, what is Over Rank? How do you achieve it?"

"I can't really give tips, you know? It's against the rules," Irie said. "And Over Rank isn't really something you need to worry about. I mean, only ten players ever reached it."

"I know. I'm one of them," Tsuna said dryly. "I'm not asking you to help me reach it. I just want to know why it happened."

"Wait, you're Ieyasu? That Ieyasu?"

Tsuna nodded. "Yeah. It's been bothering me. If Flames are real, what does reaching Over Rank mean for me? Is there something weird about my Flames? I thought it might be connected to using Flames in real life, since I was given Over Rank right afterwards, but that can't be it…"

They lapsed into silence as Irie pondered Tsuna's questions. "I'm not sure if I'm supposed to talk about this, but it's not like you're uninvolved. So keep it between us, okay?" he said finally. "Over Rank isn't anything dangerous or all that special. I was told that it just means your capacity for creating Flames is past what the system can measure. Anything over a certain point, no matter whether it's by a little or a lot, comes out to infinity in the program. It's like if you break the level cap by hacking, except that the hacking comes from the part of the software that's actually in your mind."

"So then the fact that I was given Over Rank when I logged in after using my Flames in real life for the first time was a coincidence?" Tsuna wondered.

"Maybe, maybe not. Did you use your Flames a lot, more than ever before, when you logged in? You must have been really upset, right?" Irie asked.

Thinking back on it, Tsuna nodded slowly.

He had linked the two — using Flames in real life and gaining Over Rank — in his mind, but one hadn't actually come immediately after the other. When he had run home, locked himself in his room and desperately logged into IoF, hands shaking as he pulled the headgear on, Tsuna had appeared in the guildhall like normal. No one had been in and, shaken up and terrified, he'd run outside.

Alone, he had stared down at his hands. The familiar Sky Flames had come easily when he called them. 'What is this? What are these things?' Tsuna remembered thinking wildly. Gritting his teeth, he'd flung one hand out, as if trying to throw the troublesome things away, and the Flames had burst forth, sweeping over the wasteland.

Could he do that in real life too? The stray thought had terrified Tsuna. In IoF, no one could get hurt for real, and there was not even any sign of damage, but what would happen if those Flames hit a real building, real people? He didn't want that kind of power!

It had all been too much for him, and Tsuna had tried to run again, get away from everything — this time taking to the skies. Propelled by his Flames, he had burst upward, climbing up and up, with no intent of slowing down — or coming down.

There was no hard flight limit in IoF, no invisible ceiling in the sky, but climbing higher took progressively more Flames, creating a limit on the highest point that could reached before a player's Flames ran out.

Tsuna ignored the warning messages and indicators that he was about to exhaust his capacity. He didn't care. He wanted, needed to go higher.

Why? Why did the only thing that made him truly happy have to turn out like this? Where was he supposed to go now? What was he supposed to do?

He couldn't take it. He couldn't accept it! He wouldn't allow it!

He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes against the warnings, and when he opened them, a Flame had lit on his forehead. The thrust from his hands surged, stronger than ever — his entire display scrambled for a moment before disappearing.

The only thing left was the area indicator, which changed — no longer _Minamoto: Southside Wasteland_, but instead simply _Space_.

It was enough to finally knock Tsuna out of his panic and make him stop, hovering in midair. All around him was no longer the cerulean if the sky, but a deep black. Below, the world of IoF glowed blue-white. He'd gone past the clouds without noticing, and even the features of the area he had left were no longer rendered well enough to make out.

It shouldn't have been possible, but Tsuna felt cold, prickling at his skin beneath his clothing. But he felt clear-headed too.

There was no point in panicking. Ieyasu wouldn't do something like that. Why did he freak out so much? No matter just what his Flames were or how strong, there was nothing he could break here. The world couldn't be damaged, the players would always return to life. He didn't need to run from it.

So all he needed to do was calm down. Maybe he couldn't go back to the real world, there was no telling what his life would become, but he would always have this.

Taking a deep, needless breath, Tsuna cut his Flames and Dying Will Mode and let himself fall.

He caught himself before he hit the ground, cutting his momentum in a brilliant burst of Flames. As he touched down, Tsuna pulled up his menu, remembering the strange static that had overtaken it. There was a momentary delay, as if it was still rebooting, but finally the usual interface opened.

That was when he noticed it — the fact that the bar indicating Flame capacity had disappeared, the changed rank, and the X next to his name.

Irie nodded thoughtfully as Tsuna relayed the story. "I thought it might be like that," he said, adjusting his glasses. "Do you remember how, during character creation, you got a quick tutorial about Flames and were asked to do a couple tests to see what kind and how strong they'll be?"

Tsuna nodded. Most players thought it was randomized, but that was clearly not the case.

"Well, the system can't automatically look into your head and tell what your Flames are like," Irie explained. "You need to basically activate them, so the system can observe. One of the tests checks to see how strong a Flame you can make without strain. That determines your initial level."

The fact that no everyone started at E Rank was the source of much groaning and cursing in the forums. But the inscrutable Cervello Inc. never acknowledged any demands to change the system.

"But that's not your absolute limit," Irie continued. "Normally, the system leaves a small margin of error beyond what you did on the test. It notes if you go into it and raises your character's capacity to match, then adds another margin of error on top of that, until you go into that too, and so on. That's how your Flames get stronger in the game."

Most stats in IoF rose from general leveling and with additional use. Flames, again, caused players much consternation because you could use Flames plenty and never get stronger. If what Irie said was true, it wasn't just a matter of using them, but of pushing past your limit.

Well, considering how many pinches Tsuna had been in during his two years of playing, where he had to use everything he had and then a bit more, it wasn't surprising he had gone all the way to A Rank.

"Normally, there's still an upper limit on that. The game has lots of safeties built in, so you're only ever being measured according to the Flames you can produce without straining yourself," Irie said. "And, well, they're called Dying Will Flames for a reason. You need resolve to use them to your full potential — desperation. That's not really something you're likely to get in a game."

"So it's because I was desperate that I managed to push past the rank limit," Tsuna concluded.

"Yeah," Irie nodded. "You completely smashed it. The system couldn't calculate it anymore, so — Over Rank." He frowned pensively. "Being Over Rank means there's no longer a limit on your Flames in the game. Any limitations you have left are all in your head, about how you think of using Flames. Basically, there's nothing you can't do. So, uh, please be careful. The system can get pretty glitchy when things go outside the parameters."

'Is that why all the other Over Rank stopped playing?' Tsuna wondered. 'Being able to do anything, did the game world become too fake?' He didn't like the thought of it. Struggling and overcoming was what he enjoyed about IoF, what made it real to him.

"Do you mind if I ask something too?" Irie said in the ensuing silence.

"Sure," Tsuna said, smiling and pushing away his gloomy brooding thoughts.

"What's up with that special mode you use?" Irie asked, leaning in and peering at Tsuna a bit too intently. "There's nothing else like it in the entire game system! I mean, the combat has lots of flexibility to let players create their own skills, but that mode is just something else!"

"Um, it just happened?" Tsuna offered. He leaned back, a little taken aback. "I mean I… saw something like it once. When I ended up in a losing fight, I thought, 'I wish I had that strength,' and it just… happened." He chuckled. "I couldn't use it properly at first at all! My clothes even kept getting destroyed!"

Irie nodded a little dubiously. Dying Will Mode, Tsuna's special continuous buff skill, used his Flames to increase his other stats. Of course, since it was something the player created instead of one of the game's preset skills, it hadn't been calibrated properly at first, leading to some… glitches.

Naturally, the one Tsuna had gotten the idea from, the one whose strength he wished for, had been the original Ieyasu. But Tsuna didn't want to try to explain their strange, dream-like meeting to Irie.

There were some mysteries he didn't really want answers to.

"By the way," Tsuna said, remembering something, "why were you sitting in the hallway?"

Irie paled and clutched his stomach. "…The admins suggested I sit at the panel too," he admitted quietly. "But I just… urgh…" He groaned, his nerves flaring up at just the thought of going on stage in front of so many people.

Tsuna patted him consolingly on the shoulder.

~.~.~

"Tsuna-samaaaaa," Gokudera wept into his boss's shoulder. "I was so worried!"

It turned out that Tsuna's phone had gotten damaged after all — or at least, its battery had gotten knocked loose. So Tsuna ended up missing several (dozen) frantic calls from Gokudera, once his friend finished his standoff with Federico and found him gone — Tsuna hadn't gotten around to sending that text either.

"It's okay," Tsuna tried to assure him. "Seriously. What do you think would even happen to me?"

Gokudera looked ready to give an entire list, but Federico, who had for some reason followed Gokudera on his frantic search of the convention hall, quickly broke in. "Well, if you're alright and you don't have any questions, I'm going to take my leave."

"Yeah, I found out everything," Tsuna said, smiling gratefully. "It turned out I got worked up over nothing, really."

"Then you made it to the panel?" Gokudera asked.

Strangely, it almost seemed as if Federico tensed at that.

"No, I missed it. But it worked out for the best," Tsuna said.

His talk with Irie had been far more revealing than any Q&A session with the admins could have been. Probably too revealing — when the panel let out, attendees streaming out into the previously empty hall, Irie had frantically asked Tsuna not to share what he'd told him, before being herded away by an admin.

"Thank you again for coming, and please thank Leon-san too," Tsuna told Federico. As the man smiled and turned to go — and Tsuna had the impression his shoulders sagged in pure relief — Tsuna turned to his friend. "So what do you want to do next, Gokudera-kun?"

"Whatever you want is fine. I will follow you anywhere!" Gokudera declared, only to have Tsuna sigh and give him a long look. "…The panel on combining multiple Flame types looked interesting."

"Sound good to me," Tsuna agreed, beaming.

He was looking forward to a nice, peaceful convention visit, now that the pressing issues were all resolved — meeting other fans, taking part in a tournament, getting lost, spending far too much money…

Halfway up the stairs to the second floor, Tsuna and Gokudera paused as the PA system came on. "Dear guests," the announcement began; strangely, the voice sounded rather harried, "we have a lost little boy at the visitor center. His name is—"

There was a burst of screeching static. "Lambo-san isn't a little boy!" an entirely different, much younger voice exclaimed petulantly.

"Get down from there, you little brat!" a third voice, another adult, hissed.

"Please pick him up as soon as possible," the first announcer finished hurriedly.

The speakers clicked off. In the stunned silence, someone snickered. Laughter rolled across the convention center. Tsuna buried his face in his hands. "…He really did it," he muttered.

"That stupid cow," Gokudera hissed.

~.~.~

Lambo, the real Lambo Bovino, was seven years old. It made Tsuna frown unhappily, realizing that Lambo, who had been in IoF longer than even Tsuna, must have been only five when he started playing, if not four.

And given how much time he spent in IoF… Just how negligent were his parents?

To the staff at the visitor desk, Tsuna gave some loose story about Lambo being Gokudera's cousin, along with many profuse apologies. The poor employees seemed too happy to be rid of Lambo to question him. Probably, they pitied any would be kidnappers — Lambo was sure to make them regret their life of crime, every misdemeanor, and possibly even being born.

When Tsuna turned back to Gokudera and Lambo, they were deep in some kind of whispered discussion, but the two of them clammed up as soon as they noticed he was done. It was a bit suspicious, honestly.

'I hope Gokudera-kun isn't bullying him,' Tsuna thought.

"I was just telling the stupid cow not to cause more trouble for Boss!" Gokudera announced hastily. His laughter had a distinctly nervous tinge. Suspicious.

"Shut up, Octopus Head! Lambo-san…" Lambo frowned and corrected himself. "I decided to grace you with my presence! You should be grateful!" He yelped as Gokudera nailed him across the top of the head.

Tsuna shot Gokudera a disapproving look that made him shuffle awkwardly. "You're back to calling me that?" he commented. "You were using my name fine before…"

Of course, Gokudera couldn't explain to him that it had been just to keep Federico from getting even the slightest notion of Tsuna being associated with the mafia. That had also been the subject of Gokudera and Lambo quick conference — the Bovino were a mafia famiglia, and Lambo was a mafia kid himself, but Gokudera wouldn't tolerate any of that around Tsuna. Lambo had been willing to go along with it grudgingly, up until Gokudera hastily confiscated his grenades.

"Yes, well… What are we going to do about the cow?" Gokudera asked instead, trying to deflect rather artlessly.

Tsuna found himself hesitating, successfully distracted. Normally, he would have insisted on sending the boy home, but… His long-standing, only growing stronger concerns about Lambo's family situation and the boy's defiant facade that didn't quite hide his fear made Tsuna take option two, the slightly crazy one.

"He can come back to Namimori with us. At least until his parents start getting worried," Tsuna said. To Lambo, "They can get in touch with you, right?"

"Oh yeah, sure!" Lambo agreed quickly. Wiggling out of Gokudera's grasp, he threw his hands around Tsuna's waist. "Thanks, Boss!"

"Tsuna. Sawada Tsunayoshi," Tsuna said. Wait, when had Lambo switched to calling him Boss anyway?

"Tsuna-nii!" Lambo decided happily.

"Is that really okay, Boss?" Gokudera wondered.

"Mom loves having more people at the house," Tsuna assured him. "That's why I keep telling you not to hold back and come for dinner at our house. Or breakfast!"

Nana did love having Lambo stay with them, even more than Tsuna had expected. She also never actually bothered to ask where exactly he came from and what his parents thought of it. Apparently, Tsuna was the only one to worry about whether this all counted as kidnapping or not.

The Bovino family never did contact Lambo again. Good riddance, Tsuna thought, uncharacteristically sharp and vindictive.

~.~.~


	7. System Error

~.~.~

**Title: **Inheritors of Flame**  
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**Last time:** Tsuna and Gokudera attended an IoF convention, where they met with Federico, sent by Reborn to help Tsuna with his Flames. Tsuna also ran into Irie Shoichi, a part-time programmer for Cervello Inc, the company behind IoF, who explained the true nature of Over Rank - those whose Flames are too strong to be measured by the system. The last encounter - Lambo, coming to visit from Italy and deciding to stay.

**Notes: **Man, this chapter/arc ended up much longer than I expected… Damn you, Mukuro! Why must you suck the joy out of everything!

~.~.~

**Chapter 5: System Error  
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"So, how was the convention?" Shigure asked, after they returned from Tokyo and met up in the guild hall once more.

"Big. Lots of people," Tsuna said. "Well, I guess all of Tokyo is like that. But it was fun too, and some of the panels were pretty interesting. Oh, and we met up with Lambo. He's staying with me while he's in Japan." Which was looking to be quite a while, not that Nana seemed to mind. It wasn't like Tsuna's father couldn't afford it, in any case, that stupid workaholic.

Lambo raise one arm to wave lazily from his position on the couch.

Being one of the less volatile members of the guild, Shigure just smiled. "Like a home stay? That's cool," he said. He dithered for a moment before continuing, "Hey, I was thinking… We've all been busy lately, but the team's taking a break for a bit cause a lot of guys are going on trips with their families, and Ryo-sempai says he's got some time too, so maybe we could… you know, do something as a guild?"

Shigure's smile was painfully uncertain as he waited for Tsuna's verdict. He must have been worrying about it for a while, maybe even since the start of the new school year, when his team practices intensified. It hadn't been a problem before, since it had been winter and too cold for much training, and before that, when he first joined, he'd broken his arm and was off the team.

Silently, Tsuna berated himself for not noticing sooner. Of course Shigure, who was always so considerate of the people around him, would feel bad for ducking out, even if Tsuna said he didn't mind.

Before Gokudera could make some waspish comment, Tsuna elbowed him in the side and said, beaming, "That sounds great! We've still got a bit of vacation time left too, enough for a good adventure!"

Shigure relaxed a little, his smile becoming more natural. "You said you wanted to try taking on the White Tower, right? We'll probably wash out, but it might be interesting."

"Eh… I think that might be a little too intense if we want to have some fun," Tsuna said. Given the situation, he didn't want to admit he'd already cleared it without them. What if Shigure started worrying again?

It wasn't important anyway. Unlike PKs, boss victories were not recorded publicly. After all, bosses were for the most part just a way of getting strong, rare Boxes, and it was by using a boss's dropped Box that players proved their victories.

Tsuna had no intention of using the white dragon he had received from the tower's boss. It had very impressive stats and was conveniently Sky type, but it was a unique upgraded Box, only used by the "I" player, and Tsuna didn't want the extra attention. He was perfectly happy with just Natsu, in any case.

"I'll make a conference with the others and see what they think," Tsuna offered instead.

As the guild master, it was easy for Tsuna to set up a voice chat between all the guild members. All sides of the conversation would be heard by all the participants, but unlike normal voice chat, the voices of those not physically present emanated from floating monoliths with their profile pictures and names, instead of just in the heads of the user players.

Gokudera sent a quick PM, saying he'd be on in a minute, while Ryo answered almost immediately.

"Yo! What's up?" he asked energetically. In the background, they could make out what sounded like the indistinct babble of a crowd and, a little closer, the voice of a girl, asking something. Not being logged in, Ryo had answered on his cellphone. "Yeah, you go on ahead, Kyoko," Ryo answered distractedly. "I'll catch up."

"Are you okay to talk, Oniisan?" Tsuna asked. "It's nothing urgent."

"Yeah, I'm extremely fine!" Ryo assured him. "I was just shopping with my sister and her friend." Which meant he had plenty of time to spare, in between carrying their bags.

The floating screen representing Gokudera vanished as the player himself burst into the room. "I apologize for the delay, Boss!" he declared, quickly taking a place next to Tsuna in their small circle. Even Lambo had sat up, paying attention.

A moment later, Chrome's screen lit up as he entered the conference. "Sorry, I was talking to an NPC," he said.

"Okay, everyone," Tsuna said, calling the meeting to order, "Shigure and I think that we should do something as a guild before the end of summer vacation. When is everyone available? And what do you want to do?"

"I'm extremely open anytime!" Ryo said. "The other guys couldn't keep up with my extreme training and have to rest!"

Tsuna wasn't sure what to say to that. A new PM popped up in his menu, from Gokudera. 'Stupid Turftop is probably using his Activation property without realizing. He must have run those civilians into the ground.'

Gokudera had explained that materializing any Flame except Sky in the real world was extremely difficult. Instead, people were much more likely to use the properties of their Flames — Lightning's Hardening, Sun's Activation, or Mist's Construction, which led to illusions. It wasn't even all that uncommon, and could easily happen without the user ever noticing.

Given that Ryo's primary Flame stat was the third highest after Tsuna and Chrome in their guild — Gokudera's combined Flame stats were high, but each individual one was a bit lower, and Shigure focused more on physical sword skills — he was the most likely to end up using his Flames in real life. As a ridiculously dedicated, driven, resolved sportsman, he had probably even been doing it for a while.

"I'm… all open too," Chrome said quietly. "I don't have anything left to do. It would be nice… to do something with Boss and everyone before… um, before everyone goes back to school."

It seemed like he had been about to say something else, making Tsuna shoot his guildmate a faintly worriedly look. Chrome was the guild member he knew least about, being also the last to join. Chrome himself obviously didn't attend school, given his online hours, but Tsuna had no idea why.

"Yeah, I'm good too. I'll just need to tell Dad that I won't be able to help with the shop that day," Shigure was saying. "Maybe we can do one of the Obon events?"

"I'd like to go to a festival," Tsuna agreed, "but most of the events are more for casual parties. It's all stuff like courage tests or chasing down rumors, isn't it?"

Shigure shrugged a little, agreeing. The Japan server always got more visitors for those seasonal events, but they were almost uniformly casual and simple, just a way of wasting a bit of time while catching up with friends. They'd probably all go, but not as a guild — when they'd gone the previous year, Tsuna, Gokudera, Ryo and Lambo had gotten split up in no time anyway, in the large crowds.

"What about one of the summer beach events? Maybe the seafood invasion again," Gokudera suggested, referring to an event where a special giant octopus boss invaded the beaches with its army of sea life minions.

Lambo groaned loudly. "No way!" he said. "That was bad enough last year. I refuse!"

"Um, I have an idea," Chrome spoke up uncertainly. "I was actually just looking into rumors about it… It seems there's a new event going on. I think it's server-wide, randomly generated."

"Whoa, server-wide, really?" Lambo murmured.

Chrome made a sound of agreement, thinking back on what he knew. "Lately, every once in a while, an area gets suddenly covered in a strange mist," he explained. "It's always just one area, and only for a while, but the entire area gets affected. It seems like a special area affect, but I haven't been able to find out much. Everyone who's gone deeper in hasn't been on afterwards and hasn't shared any info."

While there was a day-night cycle that matched the real world conditions of the server location, weather effects were a rarity in IoF. There were a few areas that had them as part of the set up — mountain tops that were incredibly windy and at least one area caught in a constant thunderstorm, complete with randomized lightning strikes. There were also a few special seasonal events, like the previous year's much despised rain and flood event and the yearly snowfall around New Years.

But they were rare enough to stand out. Tsuna hadn't heard anything about a new event being planned, on the Japan server no less. There had been no hint of it at the convention, and it seemed like a strange move all around — as Shigure had mentioned, they already had plenty of seasonal events going on. There was even a similar randomized area effect that had to do with "ghosts."

A glitch?

"That definitely sounds interesting," Tsuna decided. "What do you guys think?"

"I'm in," Shigure said.

"Extreme!" Ryo agreed.

"Fine, I guess I'll come along," Lambo said, pretending indifference.

"Do you know where it is now?" Gokudera asked. "Is there any kind of pattern to its appearances?"

Chrome shook his head. "It comes and goes at random, but it doesn't seem to disappear for more than a day. It's usually in the high level areas, but beyond that…"

"Then we'll just have to keep an eye out for it," Tsuna decided. "Let's block off the next three days and start preparing." He grinned. "Looks like we have a new quest!"

~.~.~

Later that evening, they received a mass PM from Chrome. "_It's returned,_" the message read. "_Yamato: Western Pass._"

~.~.~

The Yamato region, bearing the same name as ancient Japan but a different combination of kanji, had the highest level normal areas on the Japan sever. Characterized by the central mountain, the surrounding areas consisted of the slopes, caves and passes leading up to it. The Western Pass was the most popular one, leading up to the small NPC settlement halfway up — more of a waypoint with a small inn and dango stand.

So far, there was no actual summit area, despite rumors of it being added in the next expansion, but Tsuna had been as high up as it was possible to go. The view had been spectacular, and Tsuna remembered thinking that it would be interesting to climb the real Mount Fuji, on which Yamato was clearly based.

Like most, he had gone up the Western Pass. However, when they stepped off the highway at the foot of the mountain, the pass was nigh unrecognizable.

Everything was covered in a thick white mist, so that even the path and the cliffs around them disappeared from view almost immediately. As a player, Tsuna judged that the visibility was lower than the encounter distance — they could literally end up in a battle without even seeing their opponent.

"Haha, spooky," Shigure commented.

"I-I don't like this. Let's go back," Lambo moaned unhappily, latching on to Gokudera.

"Suck it up, you stupid cow," Gokudera shot back absently, fiddling with his menu. "The map's not working…"

"It's probably disabled as part of the event. We'll have to be careful not to get separated," Tsuna decided. "Let's partner up and go in double file. Make sure you stay close to the pair in front of you."

Looking he admittedly didn't have much hope in their entire party staying together for long. Things always ended getting pretty crazy with them. That was why at least remaining in pairs was the best option. As long as they split up right, any two of them should be able to take on most monsters, or at least run.

"Ossu!" Ryo and Shigure sounded off, already pairing off. As fellow athletes, they had a certain understanding.

Tsuna let them be. Shigure's level was just barely high enough for the regular monsters in the Western Pass, and the special event monsters might be stronger, but he had a natural instinct for combat. Ryo was also very strong, being the most combat oriented member of their guild, and his Sun Flames could be used to restore HP. They'd make a good team. Well, as far as combat went…

Given the way Lambo was clinging to Gokudera, there probably was probably no point in trying to pry him off, so Tsuna let them be too. Gokudera was versatile and high leveled, and Lambo… He was certainly good at surviving, though his level remained almost comically low for someone who had been playing as long and as much as Lambo.

"Then I'm with you. Okay, Chrome?" Tsuna asked, smiling at his last guildmate.

Chrome smiled back shyly and nodded.

"Alright, Oniisan, Shigure, you're in front. Chrome and I will follow, Gokudera and Lambo in the back," Tsuna ordered. "And remember, stay together."

~.~.~

Without meaning to, Tsuna had started humming the Namimori Middle School anthem as they made their way through the mist. It wasn't the first time, and the rest of the guild hummed along with varying degrees of enthusiasm — Shigure and Ryo in particular, seemed to enjoy it a little too much.

It was only when they reached the end of the song that Tsuna realized there was no BGM playing, hadn't been any since they arrived.

They hadn't run into a single random encounter thus far, which was both puzzling and unsettling. The encounter rate in the Western Pass was fairly low, as long as you stuck to the road, but they had lost the path a while back, and it had never been _that_ low. If anything, Tsuna would have expected it to increase in the mist…

But instead it seemed the special event was geared toward suspense. And it was working.

"Do you think we'll run into a ghost?" Shigure wondered.

"That sounds like an extreme fight," Ryo grinned, knocking his fists together. "I'd love to box with one!"

"If there are any ghost monsters, they're probably immune to physical attacks," Gokudera reasoned tersely. "So you'd be totally useless, Turftop."

"Can we stop talking about ghosts?" Lambo moaned. "They're scary!"

"What are you babbling about, idiot? Ghosts aren't real!" Gokudera said, glaring over his shoulder.

"They are too!" Lambo shot back. "I saw one… My cousin, he died from food poisoning. But when his old girlfriend came by, I saw him! He was glaring at her from around the corner! And all the plates with her cooking would always fall off the table and break!"

"Even if they're ghosts, I can still punch them!" Ryo insisted, in an apparent non sequitur. "I'll put my Flames on my fists and punch with all my resolve! That's how a real man does things!"

"So your cousin's girlfriend poisoned him?" Chrome wondered.

"That's not the issue here!" Gokudera protested. Both Ryo and Chrome turned to look at him, puzzled and unsure which he was speaking to.

Shigure burst out laughing.

Smiling, Tsuna shook his head. "I think there are things like ghosts, or at least something that remains behind even after people are gone," he said. After all, what else could Ieyasu-san have been? Tsuna knew without a doubt that the real Ieyasu had died long ago.

Gokudera made a deeply conflicted face, caught between his urge to argue for some pseudo-scientific explanation and his desire to agree with his boss's every word.

Tsuna chuckled, feeling sorry for him. He was about to comfort his friend, when he froze in mid-step.

Suddenly, his intuition was screaming.

"Ambush!" Tsuna yelled, knowing better than to doubt himself. At the same time, he grabbed Chrome's arm and threw them both to the side, even as Gokudera did the same with Lambo.

An arrow, blazing with crimson Storm Flames, struck the place they had been standing and immediately detonated.

Through the clouds of dust that hid what little could be seen through the mist, Tsuna heard Gokudera curse, Shigure call out, and the sharp retort of a gun, followed by another explosion.

'Those are player weapons,' Tsuna thought. 'But how are they targeting us in the mist?' It was not a player field skill, he was certain, being too widespread and too strong. In which case, it should have affected everyone equally.

His intuition flared again, and this time, now that Tsuna was watching closely, he could understand it a little better. It was as if the mist was shifting in accordance with the players attacking them — it stirred and made a path, from which a spear user burst forth, his weapon raised to attack.

This time, there was no time to pull Chrome away, and all Tsuna could do was push his guildmate away before the spear, trailing green Flames, slammed into the ground. Flames and more dust exploded outward, but Tsuna narrowed his eyes against both and remained close. Better to make himself a target and draw fire from Chrome, who could use the time to get an illusion going.

The next attack wasn't long in coming, the spear thrusting toward Tsuna, but he simply sidestepped and grabbed the shaft. His own Flames countered the ones on the spear, letting him grip it without damage and yank the opposing player into punching range.

But a closer look at his opponent made Tsuna pause in surprise.

The other player's right eye was glowing a bright red, like a warning light. The skin around the eye was distorted, with wrinkles or bulging veins, or maybe deep scars. But there was no evil smirk or feral bared teeth to go with the ominous design. Instead, the player's face was utterly expressionless, more than Tsuna had ever seen — in the NPCs, the administrators, or even Hibari's unconsciousness victims.

'What is that?' Tsuna wondered.

He had missed his chance to attack, and his opponent was able to twist the spear out of his grip. The spear user backed away quickly, putting distance between them. Again, it was only Tsuna's intuition that let him dodge the next attack — this one coming from behind and to one side. A spiked whip lashed through the air, just barely missing Tsuna, who retaliated with a quick shot of Sky Flames in the direction the attack had come from.

The mist was parted by the orange Flames for a moment, enough for Tsuna to get a glimpse of the whip user — a female player, her eye glowing with the same unsettling red light.

'It has to be some kind of special status condition,' Tsuna thought, as the mist quickly closed again, hiding the female player from sight.

But what was it exactly? Not confuse or berserk, or anything else Tsuna had heard of. Those blank, vacant expressions. The silent attacks, the way they seemed to act in coordination with the mist… Tsuna could feel a sense if unease growing stronger and stronger in his chest.

He pushed the thoughts away, trying to focus on the imminent threat. However, when Tsuna turned, he could find no sign of his other opponent. The spear user too had disappeared into the thick mist.

With his intuition silent except for the faint, unceasing hum at the back of his mind, Tsuna straightened and let him Flames fade away.

But now he realized there was another, much more concerning issue.

"Chrome? Shigure? Oniisan?" he called out. "C-san? Lambo? …Anyone?"

Tsuna was completely alone.

~.~.~

For all that Federico had stared down some of the strongest players in the mafia world, dealing with the admins of IoF always left him uneasy and on edge. The identical masked women, whose subtly varied clothing somehow just made them more unnatural, who acted interchangeable and all bore the same identifier, "Cervello" — knowing that they were the same in real life didn't make it better.

Within the game, the admins preformed a few standard functions that included interacting with the players. They operated the inter-server gates. They refereed and judged official duels, which had preset win and lose conditions and rules, as opposed to in the field, impromptu, life or death, anything goes PK fights. They made certain announcements and could be asked questions at their guildhalls.

Well, calling that interaction was perhaps taking it too far. The admins were even more stilted and mechanical in their manner than the actual NPCs.

Cervello was rumored to also appear whenever a player attempted any hacking or the like, but Federico had felt it wiser not to test them. He could tell easily that there was something more going on behind IoF and behind Cervello, and while Vongola would certainly protect him, he saw no benefit to kicking over an anthill that wasn't even in the way.

He wasn't the only one to realize that, of course, and that was why Dino had asked him to be the one to speak to the admins — that, and Federico's superior intimidation skills. Dino was good at diplomacy and negotiation, but he was also nice and cautious, while Federico had the arrogant, entitled youngest son thing down pat.

Which wasn't to say he felt comfortable striding into the Cervello guildhall in Colosso, the largest city in the game and the unofficial center of IoF, and demanding an audience.

The two Cervello in the lobby exchanged an unreadable look. "One moment, please," one of them said.

Behind them, the large doors leading deeper into the guildhall opened, and the other admin gestured toward them. "You may proceed, Guild Master Vongola."

Federico strode through the doorway and down the empty corridor without a hint of hesitation, not even sparing them another glance. Internally, he wished he could have brought at least a couple of his people as entourage. But if this turned out to be some kind of sensitive matter, it was better that he be alone — easier to convince them to reveal it to him alone.

There was only a single other exit, at the end of the hallway, but Federico guessed that, since this wasn't a real place, the interior of the guildhall was simply programmed to lead visitors only where they needed to go.

The door opened into a room that was both largely empty and at the same time stately and impressive, made of the same white marble as most of Colosso's non-customized buildings. There was no furniture or decorations of any kind. Another pair of Cervello was waiting for him, this time with shorter hair and more white lace. Federico had no idea what that meant.

"Welcome, Guild Master Vongola," one of them greeted him.

"What is the purpose of your visit?" the other asked.

"I'm here representing my guild and the Cavalry," Federico said, "to alert the admins to an anomaly in the game."

The Cervello exchanged a look. "Please elaborate," one of them said. Neither of them showed the slightest change in expression or tone. Even Federico couldn't find anything to work with.

"Recently, an unknown phenomenon has been occurring across the Japan server. Single areas are temporarily covered in dense white mist, which disperses after an unknown interval," Federico relayed formally. He expected they already knew. "A joint party of players from my guild and the Cavalry set out to investigate. However, several report that they were forcefully logged out and have no recollection of what occurred there. Others have not been heard from since."

He stopped there, waiting to see how the Cervello would react.

The admins gave nothing away, as always. "We appreciate your information," one said.

"Thank you for your time," the other added.

It sounded like a clear dismissal, but Federico didn't budge. "What measures are you going to take?" he asked. "I want the Cavalry Guild Master and myself to be informed of our players' status when you check on them."

The two Cervello exchanged another look. "You do not need to concern yourself with this matter any further," one said calmly.

"If you wish to instruct your guild to avoid the affected areas, you may do so," the other added.

"You're not even going to make a general announcement?" Federico demanded. "This isn't some small bug! The ones we've been able to contact said they were knocked unconscious. They lost memories! And what about the ones we haven't been able to reach? There's no telling what happened to them! This system interfaces directly with the mind. If there's something wrong—"

"There is no malfunction in the system," one of the admins cut across his protests.

"We will monitor this issue closely," the other assured him. "Have a good day."

And before Federico could say anything further, the empty chamber dissolved into light. When his vision cleared, Federico found himself looking at a small courtyard, just behind the Cervello guildhall — he recognized the surrounding buildings and landmarks.

He had been dismissed and literally sent away. Federico hadn't been treated so offhandedly since… ever.

"Whaaat?! How dare they?!" he seethed momentarily, making angry clawing motions.

But his indignation was quickly smothered under a growing sense of unease. Why did the admins react like that? It was strange and uncharacteristic. They had always been brusque, but never that abrasive. And in the past, in the early stages of IoF, any bugs or errors, no matter how small, had been quickly investigated and handled, one way or another.

'…Except those instances,' Federico thought. 'The server crashes. Those keep happening too.'

He wasn't sure why the thought occurred to him, though it was certainly something he'd considered idly. If they wanted to implement a new area, why not just have a scheduled downtime?

Federico shook his head, scowling. 'Not a flaw in the system? Then what is it? Monitor it closely? What are you waiting for? What the hell is going here?!'

IoF had safeties upon safeties; how else could people trust their minds to it? So for players to get knocked out for up to several hours, to have gaps in their memories… It was no small thing. And what about the ones they hadn't heard back from? It might have been just a game, but both he and Dino took it seriously. Their guildmates were part of their famiglie or potential members. They were responsible for them.

Biting back his frustration, Federico opened a voice chat to Dino, who answered immediately. He had no doubt been waiting nervously for the outcome.

"It's useless," Federico said without preamble. "They won't do anything about it. We'll have to handle it ourselves. Contact your guild, make an announcement. Spread the word. Everyone needs to stay away from that weird mist." He paused. "Start pulling everyone off the Japan server. I'm going to do the same."

"Going that far? Is it… that bad?" Dino wondered.

"Have you heard back from the others?" Federico asked, instead of answering. "What about the ones outside our guilds?"

He could imagine Dino's troubled look. "None of them have logged back in," he reported. "It's weird. I know some of them. They come on every day, and they wouldn't give up just because they lost. They're not answering messages either. It's only been a few days, so everyone still says in might be a coincidence, but…"

But it would have to be a big coincidence, and getting bigger.

"As for ours… The missing ones are all civilians," Dino said. "I've never contacted them outside IoF. I can probably get a trace on them, if I put my guys to it."

Something about struck Federico as strange. "…The ones who came back, they are all mafia?"

"I think so," Dino said slowly, thinking back. "Yes. Yeah, they are. Do you think it's important?"

"I don't know," Federico said curtly, his frustration seeping through. "For now, just make sure no one else ends up in that mist. There's no telling what goes on in there."

~.~.~

**Q&A!**

I might have missed some, but let's start answering!

**Q: In IoF, what language do they actually use? **  
>A: It's a bit of a mix. You can choose your interface language in the setup options, which will affect how your menus and other written things are displayed (that's why Reborn and Tsuna had different things for the White Tower's official name; Tsuna's is in JP, Reborn's in IT).<p>

Regarding spoken language, it's whatever the players speaks. There is interpretation software that can be used by players to communicate, but it's pretty buggy, so players will either only speak to those they share a language with (for example, Reborn speaks Japanese to Tsuna) or they will use the texting function (for some reason, the written translation software is a bit more reliable).

In the story, everyone basically speaks Japanese. Why? The same reason as in the anime. (AKA, no reason.)

**Q: Are Ryohei and Yamamoto also in Namimori?** A: No. They live in other parts of Japan. Same for Chrome. The only ones in Namimori originally are Tsuna and Hibari, then Gokudera and Lambo moved there recently.

**Q: Is Tsuna going to become Reborn's student?**  
>A: No. I'll be really upfront here: Tsuna is not in line to become Vongola Decimo. At all, for various reasons.<p>

**Q: Are Mukuro and Hibari going to join Tsuna's guild? **  
>A: Mukuro, no. Hibari... isn't even going to start playing until about fifteen chapters from now. Mukuro has his own, separate storyline, and Hibari appears in RL stuff instead, for a while.<p>

**Q: Tsuna met Primo? **  
>A: Yes. Basically, the entire world of IoF only exists in the minds of the players, which makes it a place where other "imaginary" things (like ghosts) can manifest. So Tsuna was able to speak with Primo's ghost or memory for a short while two years before the story. At the time, Tsuna was very scared and lost, so Primo ("Ieyasu") left a big impression on him. And gave him a pocket watch, which was created through Primo's thoughts. Yeah, this game is super suspicious. You can actually do stuff like that, apparently.<p>

**Q: How are IoF abilities tied to RL abilities? **  
>A: IoF is basically a full-immersion, realistic game where you move your body using the same "thought" processes as in real life. Doing things in the game can build muscle memory (which, despite the name, is stored in the brain), and those memories can then be used in real life.<p>

For the most part, this affects people's use of Flames. The game features rings that bring out Flames, so players lacking those rings in real life can't physically manifest their Flames, but they can use the Flame properties (like Ryohei increasing his stamina using Activation). The exception is Sky Flames, which can be manifested easily without rings. (Other Flames can be manifested without rings too... but it's prohibitively difficult.)

This is Tsuna's situation. He learned to use his Sky Flames in IoF, so that it became instinct. When he got into a fight in RL, he ended up instinctively activating his Flames, freaked out and hid at home for several weeks, refusing to go out.

**Q: How are Flames used in IoF?**  
>A: IoF has two parallel ways of doing pretty much anything. One is using the system commands and skills. In other words, you give the system an order and it carries that order out for you. This includes everything from crafting a new item (you gather the "ingredient items" and just select a crafted object from a menu, and viola, it appears in front of you) to punching an enemy - just use the "Punch" skill, the system will take control of your avatar in the game and use it to punch. It also works the same for Flames. You can choose one of the set skills and have it be executed by the system the same way every time. (Naturally, you don't learn much from this and it's restrictive.)<p>

On the other hand, you can manually do things too. You can manually punch, manually use your Flames and sometimes even manually craft (though that's much more rare). But the catch is you have to actually know what you're doing, on your own. For the record, Tsuna and other high-ranking players do their fighting manually because you get better results. This is also why Reborn is so tough despite having low game stats. His manual skills are just way above everyone else.

~.~.~


	8. Game Breaker

~.~.~

**Title: **Inheritors of Flame**  
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**Summary:** The virtual reality world of the game "Inheritors of Flame" was a chance to become anyone. It was a place where even an ordinary teenager could end up in a battle with the world's greatest hitman, among other incredible things.

**Notes: **Ffffffff. Cliffhanger?

~.~.~

**Chapter 5.5: Game Breaker  
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Tsuna's holographic menu was hazy around the edges, and bursts of static kept running through it. His extended inventory took several long moments to load up, and the map was still completely missing. It was, Tsuna supposed, as if he was cut off from the rest of IoF.

The most troubling part was that the PM and voice chat functions were also down. They wouldn't even open, completely grayed out and dead in his menu.

'It's too much,' he thought. 'There's no way this is some immersion mechanic. This… isn't a game event at all.'

That much Tsuna was growing more and more certain of. Whatever all of this was — the fog, the broken functions, the strangely behaving players who attacked them — it wasn't part of the game. It wasn't part of IoF. And that meant there were no guarantees, of safety or victory.

He couldn't be sure, but… This was like Ieyasu, the real one that he had met in the Abyss. Something had entered the game, which had never been programmed or meant to be included. An outsider. Neither player nor NPC — an Other. That was the feeling Tsuna had. From the mist, something was watching.

"Everyone, stay safe," he whispered to himself. "I'll find you soon. …Somehow."

~.~.~

Within the mist, someone watched. Well, watched was not entirely the right word. He had no eyes, aside from those he "borrowed," which were just as useless as any other among the impassible fog. Instead, he felt — the illusionary landscape, as solid as the water's surface, the illusionary bodies of the small wills that had become caught in his domain, and the tiny Flames that moved them.

All illusions, so easy for an illusionist to control.

And Rokudo Mukuro was the greatest illusionist in the world.

When he had first floated into the illusionary world, he had both been impressed at the scope of it and immediately awed by the possibilities. So many minds, so open and simply waiting to be possessed…

If only he wasn't sealed away, imprisoned by those detestable Vindice, in a cell of cold, dark water.

As he was, Mukuro could only take control of one small area at a time and only for a short while before his connection waned and he was forced to retreat to rest. But he didn't let that deter him. He spread his influence slowly, a few unaware fools at a time.

The ones who had wandered into his mist had been thus far has been weak, but Mukuro had left his mark in their minds and sent them on their way — except for that small group of mafia low-ranks; for them, Mukuro had simply wiped their minds and forced them out of the game. There was little chance of word getting back to the Vindice, or even any connection being made to him, but it was better to take precautions all the same.

He could not afford to have what little power he still wielded taken away, not before he could gain enough pawns to manufacture his escape from that wretched prison.

Fortunately, the perfect pawn had appeared.

Powerful, but young and inexperienced — from his glance into the minds of his thralls, Mukuro knew this one was called an Over Rank, one of the ten strongest players. He could feel it too, the sheer presence of the Sky Flame within the boy called Ieyasu. If Mukuro had that power, if he could claim it for himself…

But even as inexperienced as "Ieyasu" was, his Flame burned too brightly for Mukuro to be able simply seep inside him through the mist. Another approach would be necessary. Luckily for him, Mukuro had all the tools he would need, right there within his reach.

~.~.~

"That's true, but I don't think charging straight ahead is going to work here, Sempai," Shigure said, smiling wryly. "I mean, we ran all that way, but we never even reached the limit of the area. We're going in circles."

Standing next to him, arms crossed, Ryo scowled but didn't disagree. After all, they had found nothing so far — not their friends, not any more enemies, not monsters, not the source of the impossibly thick mist.

Just as Tsuna had feared, they ended up getting separated, though at least Ryo and Shigure had managed to stay together. Not that it was doing them much good.

None of their techniques, separately or combined, had any effect on the mist. Even when they managed to part it a short ways, it flooded back in and sealed up again in moments. They had tried calling out to their friends, but the air had a deadened, still quality that made him doubt anyone would hear them, even if they were standing just meters away.

"I guess we'll have to wait for the other guys to figure something out," Shigure admitted sheepishly. Gokudera was smart, and Tsuna had great instincts, not to mention Chrome's amazing grasp of illusions, the most complex skill tree in the game. They were all much smarter than Shigure or Ryo, and he trusted them to find a way to beat this weird mist too.

"They're very extreme guys," Ryo agreed, still scowling sulkily, "but it's not extreme to just rely on the rest of the team. Everyone needs to do their part!"

"Yeah, but… H-huh?" Shigure trailed off, blinking drowsily.

Something was wrong. His vision was blurring, and it was suddenly hard to maintain his balance. A feeling of lightheadedness he hadn't experienced since overexerting himself in training, and never in IoF, swept through him. Swaying, he collapsed to his knees. When he tried to prop himself up on one arm, it slipped numbly out from under him, sending Shigure falling to the ground.

He could just make out Ryo's fallen form next to him. Then, the mist that had been closing in around them, growing thicker and thicker, completely obscured everything. There was a feeling like something reaching inside him, a shadow passing over his… his Flame, and then…

Before he completely lost consciousness, Shigure thought he heard something like a voice, or maybe a thought that didn't belong to him.

_'I don't have the power to spare on you two small fry. So just go to sleep, and forget all about this…'_

~.~.~

The world of IoF was simply one very intricate, wide scale illusion. It was a trick of the mind, or a dream, which remained "real" only because every player allowed themselves to be fooled into overlooking its many flaws and inconsistencies, the places where it fell far short of true realism. Mind over matter, self-hypnosis, an altered state of consciousness.

Being a Mist Flame type and an illusionist, Chrome had always been aware that the world of IoF and the body of "Chrome" were just shells without substance. Otherwise, suddenly possessing a male body would have been a disorienting and uncomfortable experience — the reason why players with opposite gender avatars were actually very rare. Fantasies aside, finding yourself so fundamentally altered was too unnatural for the vast majority of players.

But Chrome had always remained conscious of the hollowness of the virtual reality, wearing "Chrome" like a set of clothes, carefully chosen and connected but never truly part of _her_.

She should have realized that the mist wasn't part of the game, Chrome berated herself as she stood still and waited, alone. But the odd texture she had noticed about the mist had been also faintly present in the rest of the landscape, and she had dismissed it as some result of the special event programming. Now, too late, she knew it was because something — someone — had taken control of the entire area, making it their own, impossibly large illusion.

The scale of it seemed impossible for a human. Chrome herself, a deft hand and naturally talented at weaving illusions, couldn't have maintained something so complete and complex in even just the space she needed to stand. To hold an entire area…

But it had to be a person, she was sure. Yes, she was more sure than ever, now that she could feel their eyes on her.

"Please show yourself," she said, combining courtesy and command in a soft voice that did not tremble. Only the tight grip she had on her staff gave away her fear. "I know you're here."

In the mist — within the mist itself — someone laughed. "Kufufu, so you noticed," he said. "It seems you have the makings of a true illusionist."

The compliment, filled with taunting, made Chrome purse her lips and clutch her staff closer.

"Claiming another illusionist always requires an extra effort," he went on. "But it would be well worth it. If only it wasn't for your condition…"

Chrome drew a sharp breath. How did he know? Did something about her Flame give it away…?

With poison in his tone, aiming to hurt, he concluded, "I have no use for a pawn that will crumble before I can put it to use."

Even knowing what he had been about to say, Chrome still found herself flinching as the reminder sent a wave of cold despair through her. That was the opening he was aiming to create, and in that moment, the mist closed around her, pressing down on her mind and self.

Chrome fought back, as best she could. Spinning her staff quickly, she slammed the butt into the ground. Her Flames pulsed outward, and the rock was suddenly transformed into lava and fire. The accompanying burst of stifling, heavy air drove back the mist, though only so far.

In a normal battle, Chrome would have followed up with a pillar of flame directly at her opponent, but even now she had no way to find him. Or rather, he was everywhere at once and thus nowhere at all.

"Kufufufu, not bad," her opponent chuckled. "But not enough. Why don't I show you how a real illusionist fights, little girl?"

Like the surging tide, thick white mist swept across Chrome's fire field, and she could feel her illusion being disrupted and disappearing. The ground cooled and hardened, becoming stone once more.

The stone cracked, tiny green shoots emerging from within. In an instance, the shoots grew into long vines that wrapped themselves tightly around Chrome's legs, waist, arms, chest. Wide leaves unfurled from the vines, together with white buds that opened into sweet-smelling lotus blossoms.

IoF's scent engine was barely more present than its nonexistent taste engine. The flowers shouldn't have smelled like anything, but… 'His illusion is… this complete?' Chrome thought. 'I can't…'

Against someone like that, she had no chance.

"Boss…" Chrome whimpered, as the vines constricted. She thought she heard cold, mocking laughter, but she could no longer tell if it was real or her imagination.

She should have never suggested coming here. This was all her fault. And now, her friends, the only ones to have accepted her and treated her with kindness, would pay the price.

"Don't worry," her opponent called out. "I'll take good care of your 'boss.' After all, he will be my most precious pawn — no, my queen."

"…"

"Hmm?"

"…I won't let you," Chrome whispered.

Even though she was so much weaker than everyone else in the guild, they still supported her. Even though she was gloomy, and too quiet, and weird, they became her friends. Even though she never told them anything about herself, they didn't doubt her.

"Stay away from Boss! Stay away from my friends!" Chrome bit out, struggling futilely against the vines that bound her. Her grip on her staff tightened.

If his illusions were this real, then hers would need to be the same. She wouldn't give up so easily, not with so much on the line.

Twirling her staff, she twisted her wrist — swinging the head toward herself. It should have been dull, but creating the illusion of a cutting edge was easy. The staff sliced awkwardly easily the vines, and through Chrome.

It hurt, so much. It felt real. There was no cut in her jacket, no blood, but it felt like there should have been. It hurt so much.

But Chrome gritted her teeth and shoved away the pain. Regaining her grip on her staff, she swung it across the rest of the vines, cutting them apart, even as they immediately began to grow back.

"Self-hypnosis? Are you trying to override my control of your mind? You're making this needlessly difficult," her opponent sighed. "There's no reason to hurt yourself like that…"

Chrome ignored him. Ripping her foot free of the vines, she took a step—

A sharp, dizzying sense of disorientation, and Chrome was suddenly looking up at a white ceiling.

Her chest was heaving, and her heart pounding. She hadn't realized it before, too focused on fighting, on finding a way to win. Her lungs burned for air, even as she gasped heavily. But at the same time, she could still feel the phantom pain of her wounds…

In the background, several shrill, beeping alarms merged into a single piercing wail — the heart monitor and other machines, reacting to her sudden exertion.

A nurse was standing over her, the VR visor she had pulled off Chrome's head held in hands. "Nagi-chan, are you alright? Can you hear me?" the nurse asked. "What happened?"

Nagi tried to answer, but her throat had closed up, her lips moving uselessly. She couldn't breathe, and the white hospital room faded into darkness.

~.~.~

Pulling his knees tighter to his chest, Lambo watched Gokudera pace angrily in the small space left clear by the mist. Was it just him, or was that circle getting even smaller? Lambo shivered at the thought.

They'd guessed pretty quickly after getting separated from the others that this wasn't any kind of special event — PMs and voice chat didn't work, but also one another, far more vital function, which Tsuna, for his part, hadn't even tried.

They couldn't log out.

Gokudera had no intention of leaving his boss and guildmates, of course, but he also hadn't seen any point in keeping the stupid cow around. The brat was terrified and completely useless, and at least in the real world he would be able to pull the headset off Tsuna — manually logging him out.

But it hadn't worked. The log out button was a dull, lifeless gray, and none of the safety overrides had worked either.

"W-what if you PKed me?" Lambo ventured. "I could wake up Tsuna-nii, and we could go to your place. And once we're out, we could contact the admins, so they can get the others…"

Pausing in mid step, Gokudera frowned thoughtfully. "…It's an option, but… we should leave it as a last resort," he decided. "The way things are, I'm not sure you'd be logged out from dying. You might get stuck in some kind of limbo."

That… wasn't a pleasant thought. Lambo whimpered.

"Then what are we going to do?" he asked, his voice growing high pitched.

"Shut up! Let me think!" Gokudera snapped. He regretted it when Lambo fell miserably silent. He was supposed to be Tsuna's second in command. He should be able to solve this — or at least take care of the rest of the guild.

But he had no ideas. He didn't even know why this was happening, or how. Nothing he tried helped.

'Dammit, what am I supposed to do?' Gokudera thought, gritting his teeth.

The tense, hopeless silence they had fallen into was broken by the soft sound of something scuffling against the ground — a footstep, followed by another, and another.

Gokudera spun around, hand hovering over his array of Boxes as he prepared to fight, should more of those red-eyed players attack, while Lambo scrambled back, putting his back against the nearest cliffside.

With a startling abruptness, a figure materialized out of the mist — not one either recognized, a teenager with dark blue hair in a strange, messy style. His right eye was covered by an eye patch. He had what looked like a three-pronged sai in one hand, but he didn't attack; seeing them, he stared in surprise, then smiled in relief.

"I'm so glad to see someone else! I was starting to think I was alone in this mist!" the stranger exclaimed. "I was trying to head up the mountain, but I got lost and separated from my friends…"

"You too?" Gokudera grumbled, relaxing a little. He ran a hand through his hair, thinking, 'At least we know we can run into other people in this. I was starting to think something was purposefully keeping us from crossing paths…'

Despite the stranger's disarming smile, Lambo hung back, content to let Gokudera handle things. As he continued to watch the other, the usual cursor and name tag appeared. Mukuro Rokudo, it read, a strangely "realistic" name. And under that, in small font…

Lambo's eyes widened.

"Get back!" he yelled, making Gokudera stumble in shock. "That guy isn't a player! He's an Other!"

Gokudera's head snapped back toward Mukuro, his eyes instinctively darting to the spot over his shoulder where his identifier appeared. Under the name, in the place that should have read "Player" or "NPC" was a different designation — "Other." An existence that couldn't be quantified by the system.

Even without any evidence, Gokudera knew. This was the one responsible for this bizarre mist and their situation.

But that realization came a moment too late. Just one more step brought Mukuro close enough to reach out and slide his three pronged weapon into Gokudera's stomach. There was no time even for a sound of surprise. Gokudera's body slumped loosely against Mukuro's shoulder.

"Yes, that's much easier," Mukuro murmured to himself. Pulling the weapon out, he eyed it, pleased. Naturally, there was no blood, no sign it had been used. "Like this, even he won't be able to fight it off."

"G-Gokudera…?" Lambo whimpered, frozen.

Slowly, Gokudera straightened, but he made no other move, his back to Lambo as he seemed to stare blankly straight ahead. Mukuro looked him up and down, humming thoughtfully. "Still, that's a rather annoying feature," he mused, then shrugged. "I suppose I'll just have to work around it."

He held the trident head out to Gokudera, who accepted it easily.

"O-oi, Octopus Head!" Lambo snapped fearfully.

Gokudera turned and smiled — the exact same expression as Mukuro next to him. His right eye glowed an ominous red, strange dark lines spreading from it across half his face.

"Not exactly," Gokudera said. Even though the voice was his, he didn't sound anything like himself. Twirling the trident head, he began to advance on Lambo.

"W-what's going on? Why are you doing this?" Lambo wondered plaintively, glancing between not-Gokudera and Mukuro. With his back against the rock cliffside, he couldn't even retreat any further.

"Why?" Mukuro repeated. "I suppose it's because I hate the mafia and everyone associated with it, like you two."

"We're not in the mafia anymore!" Lambo yelled desperately. "We're just living with Tsuna-nii! We left it behind! Just leave us alone!"

Mukuro regarded him silently, with a strange, blank look. His shoulders began to shake, more and more, until he threw his head back in full-throated, deep laughter that held no joy. "It must be nice, to be able to just run away like that!" he declared, mocking and manic. "Aaah, maybe I'll do that too… Oh, that's right. I can't."

He couldn't, locked up in the lowest levels of Vendicare, the prison of the feared enforcers of "mafia law" — the Vindice. He wouldn't, ever, just forget all that suffering, the pain and torture, forced on him by his own famiglia for some absurd reason like pride or prestige.

"So why should you? No, I'm afraid that won't work," Mukuro shook his head, as if regretful. "You can't just forget the sins you and all the mafia carry. You'll have to pay for them, you know. For the rest of your existence…"

Gokudera's arm snapped out, grabbing hold of Lambo's collar before he could even try to run. Lambo screamed, throwing up his arms uselessly. A single swipe of the trident head, the longest tip passing straight through the sleeve of his shirt to touch the skin below, and his body grew limp.

When he straightened, the fear was gone. His right eyed glowed red.

~.~.~

Tsuna felt the mist part before he saw it. He tensed, ready to fight, gloves faintly glowing with Flames — but all of that melted away when the one that stumbled into view was Gokudera.

"Gokudera-kun!" he exclaimed, forgetting about even using his friend's in-game name. Worry drowned out the ever mounting sense that something wasn't right, and Tsuna rushed to Gokudera's side.

Gokudera had dropped to his knees, one hand clutching his head over his right eye, the other curled over his stomach. He looked in pain — it shouldn't have been possible in the game system, but the entire situation had passed impossible a long while back.

Kneeling next to him, Tsuna asked frantically, "Gokudera-kun, are you okay? What do you need?"

"I-it's nothing, Boss," Gokudera forced out. It sounded like him — just like him — but something made Tsuna hesitate, his hand hovering over Gokudera's shoulder. "I just need you to… stay still for a moment…"

As he spoke, Gokudera lowered his right hand and met Tsuna's gaze. The sight of his right eye glowing red made Tsuna freeze in shock. In that moment, Gokudera lashed out with the three progress weapon that had appeared in his other hand.

Sky Flames flared over Tsuna's side, as his automatic one-hit protection activated and stopped the trident head in place before it could reach Tsuna's skin.

Gokudera clicked his tongue angrily and quickly snapped out with his free hand to grab Tsuna by the shoulder. A flash of Storm Flames, and the auto guard shattered, the Sky Flames dispersing.

But before Gokudera could bring three points to bear, a gloved hand, wreathed in Flames, wrapped around the trident's base.

"What have you done to Gokudera?" Tsuna demanded, his narrowed, orange gaze meeting Gokudera's mismatched one.

"What ever do you mean, _Boss_?" Gokudera asked, smiling pleasantly.

Instead of answering, Tsuna yanked them both sharply to one side — just in time avoid Lambo charging out of the fog at Tsuna's back. When Lambo turned, lifting his horned head, Tsuna could see that his face had been morphed in the same way.

"You really are something else, _Boss_," Lambo said. Though his voice hadn't changed, the tone and intonation were the same as Gokudera had been using — the same as Mukuro.

"But even you can only avoid your fate for so long," Gokudera continued. "Even your power isn't limitless."

"While I control everything within this mist," Lambo concluded. "So why don't you just come along quietly and join your friends? I promise I'll treat you gently."

This was the worst possible thing. Tsuna thought he should have felt afraid — and he was, terrified for his friends, of them being hurt, of hurting them himself — but more than anything, he felt angry. How dare this, this interloper hurt his guild? How dare he do this to them?

It didn't matter if it was "impossible," he wouldn't allow it. He'd do anything to save them.

All that seemed to be left in his mind was that simple, single resolve, and the path to it appeared, crystal clear and without doubt.

With a short, sharp exhalation, Tsuna shoved Gokudera away. "Within this mist, huh?" he muttered. "Then I'll just have to get rid of it."

Mukuro began to say something, through Gokudera or Lambo he couldn't tell, but Tsuna didn't listen. His cape fluttered lightly as he bent his knees, body coiling like a spring. Then, he was off, leaving a trail of Flames behind him as he flew straight up like a rising rocket.

He could feel cold tendrils of mist grasping at him futilely, but Tsuna pressed onward, until he finally burst free, into the clear dark sky.

The summit of Yamato was on one side, the other two passes winding their way up. Small lights marked the waypoint, and the other landmarks lay spread out below. Only the Western Pass was completely hidden in an unnatural, unmoving cloud of white.

Hovering above it all, Tsuna opened his menu and made a single change. Here, outside, the system was working again without any flaw.

_Confirm? Yes._ With that, he could proceed without worry.

For a moment, Tsuna closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He had been able to part the mist, a little, with his Flames. So to get rid of it, he would just need to put more power into it — a lot more. But that was fine. After all, he was one of the ten strongest players, who had surpassed the limits of the game itself.

Twisting sideways, Tsuna extended one hand down toward his target and one upward, in the opposite direction. The skill name appeared in front of his eyes, along with the balancing gauge, as Tsuna gathered pure, strong Flames in the palms of both hands, one soft, one hard. He ignored it. As he continued to build more power, the gauge flashed red and disengaged, unable to keep up.

That was what he wanted anyway. If this mist, this whole situation, went beyond the parameters of the game, Tsuna would just have to do the same.

"X Burner," he intoned quietly, "—fire."

The massive pillar of Flame that burst forth made the air tremble. It burned a wide hole through the mist, but the true effect came the moment the attack hit the ground. A shockwave blasted outward, driving the mist away.

With a clashing, groaning roar, the cliffs of the pass cracked apart, each spire being driven up as Tsuna's Flames spread through the cracks and down below, burning away what mist remained. The entire area was filled with pure fire. The mountainside was burning.

Well, that was fine — after all, he had deactivated friendly fire in their guild.

'That's right,' Tsuna thought, even as he forced more Flames into his technique. 'This is Over Rank — the only limit is my resolve. I won't lose!'

He wouldn't lose, not when his friends were in danger, not when someone was trying to take them away. Not when someone was trying to turn the place where they should have been able to smile and laugh together into a nightmare. This was their place! Theirs, and they would give it up!

He thought he heard someone scream, in rage and frustration, but he refused to stop.

Everything was burning. The world itself seemed to tremble.

Between one breath and the next, everything went dark. The last thing remaining were Tsuna's Flames, in his hands and down below. Then, even they winked out, as he lost consciousness.

~.~.~


	9. Over Rank

~.~.~

**Title: **Inheritors of Flame**  
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**Last time:** Tsuna and his guild found themselves caught in a mysterious mist, separated and unable to log out, while an unknown Other individual was on the hunt. Using his full power as an Over Rank, Tsuna blew away the mist and transformed the area.

**Notes: **Aftermath and info dumps.

~.~.~

**Chapter 6: Over Rank  
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"Tsuna-nii! Tsuna-nii, wake up!"

The persistent, high-pitched voice — and the undercurrent of fear and worry in it — dragged Tsuna back into consciousness. He blinked blearily. Lambo's tear stained face loomed over him, breaking out in a relieved smile as the boy realized Tsuna was awake.

"Lambo…? Are you okay?" Tsuna asked, his mind slugging as he slowly sat up.

"Lambo-san is fine," Lambo insisted, sniffling. "I'm, I'm okay. But I was so… so scared! You wouldn't wake up, even after I took off the visor! And stupid Gokudera isn't answering his phone, and… and… I gotta hold it in…"

He mumbled the last part to himself, biting back fat tears.

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm okay, and Gokudera too," Tsuna assured him, rubbing the boy's thick, curly hair. He groped blindly for his cell phone with his free hand. There were no missed calls or messages from the IoF app. None of the others had tried to contact him.

Pulling up Gokudera's number, Tsuna pressed the call button and waited as it rang. When it went to voicemail, Tsuna said simply, "Gokudera, call me, or I'm coming over."

In less than a minute, there was a return call.

"T-Tsuna-sama," Gokudera began uncertainly, after a moment of awkward silence. "I'm so—"

"I'm sorry," Tsuna cut him off. "As your guild master, I should have never allowed things to come to that. I'm glad you're okay. You are, right? How do you feel?"

"I, I don't know. I think so, but… Tsuna-sama, please be careful, with the cow… with Lambo too. I don't know if, if his control is still active," Gokudera told him in a rush. "That man… That illusionist, Rokudo Mukuro, has the power to possess and control others! He's a mass murderer who wiped out three fa—… organizations! He took control of both of us. He was after you, and I don't know if it's safe, for you to be around us…"

It was all completely crazy, and Tsuna wanted to panic and flail, to deny that such a thing as mind control or possession or whatever was possible. But Lambo was clinging to him, crying and scared, and Gokudera was probably just as afraid, on the other end of the line.

He didn't have time to flail and panic. He was their boss, after all.

"The fact that the mist came and went like that means it takes a lot of power for him to maintain his techniques," Tsuna said far more calmly than he felt. "I think I hit him pretty good, so it'll be a while before he can do anything. Please come over. If it makes you feel better I can tie you up or something, but I would rather I know where you are than leave you to run off somewhere if you do get possessed."

"Um, yes, Boss," Gokudera agreed, more on reflex than anything.

After he had hung up with a promise to head over as quickly as possible, Tsuna gently shook Lambo's shoulder. "Lambo, can you PM the others?" he asked. "Can you do that for me?"

Sniffling, Lambo tried to mop up his tears. "Y-yeah," he said. "No problem. I can do that…"

While he picked up his own cell phone and began to type out a message to the other three, Tsuna quickly scrolled through his friends list. There was only one person he felt like he could ask for help, for advice in a crazy situation like this — always strong and reliable, Leon-san.

He wasn't online, and normally Tsuna would have hated the idea of disturbing him on his personal phone, if he'd linked one, but the entire mess was too desperate for worries like that.

In the impossibly long seconds the app connected and rang, Tsuna tried to ignore the frantic pounding of his heart in his ears. He felt lightheaded and a bit cold, deeper down. It was familiar, but he couldn't quite place the sensation.

There was a click as the voice chat was accepted from the other end.

"Ciaossu," a strangely high voice greeted. Tsuna didn't even try to read the odd tone of it.

"Leon-san?" Tsuna asked hesitantly. He swallowed heavily and went on without waiting for an answer. "I'm sorry to bother you. But I didn't know who else to ask. Something really… really crazy happened, and I… First, I want to ask you: Have you ever heard of Rokudo Mukuro?"

The silence from the other end of the line was all the answer Tsuna needed.

He didn't know what kind of group it was that Gokudera, Lambo, "Vongola" and "Leon" all belonged to, which knew about Flames, but it was easy to guess that this Rokudo Mukuro was also connected.

"How did you hear that name?" Reborn asked, his surprisingly childish voice growing low and ominous.

"I think we were attacked by him," Tsuna said. "My guild and I decided to investigate this weird mist…"

~.~.~

Reborn's expression didn't change as he listened to Tsuna's story. From the moment he heard the name of the convinced famiglie killer, his face had turned stony. This was really… an absolutely terrible situation.

It could be worse, of course. Mukuro could have succeeded.

"I see," Reborn said with a sense of calm he didn't exactly feel. "You're likely right. It'll be a while before he can try anything, so use this chance to do what you can to remove his mark." Closing his eyes, Reborn thought back on what he had heard of the Estraneo, the family that had created Mukuro, and their possession techniques. "His ability works by leaving a sliver of his Flames within the victim. They can't sense it themselves, but you might be able to… synchronize your Flames with theirs and burn it out. Try with Gokudera first."

"Okay," Tsuna said, the faintest quiver in his voice. "Okay, I'll do that."

"It'll be alright," Reborn assured him. "I'll make sure Rokudo can't do anything further. This is just a precaution. You've done well so far; you'll be fine." For a civilian, he had done more than fine, but then, his family had been on the line. He was a bit like Dino that way, Reborn thought with a faint smile.

After Tsuna hung up, Reborn paused for a moment to gather his thoughts.

Rokudo Mukuro… A victim of the Estraneo, who became a criminal when he destroyed two famiglie unconnected to anything that had occurred to him as a child. They were mafia and far from innocent, but they had held no blame for the Estraneo's actions. So while the Vindice and the rest of the mafia world had been willing to overlook Mukuro's first mass murder, the same could not be said for his following actions.

He was finally captured not too long ago and imprisoned in Vendicare. To be able to continue to act even after that… He truly held a monstrous power.

The Vindice would be furious to learn that he had found a way to slip past them.

But even Reborn couldn't approach the Vindice recklessly, even if they were the ones at fault. Especially when they were at fault — for all that they presented an emotionless facade, the Vindice were prideful and vindictive, and petty. They were far from above lashing out at anyone who displeased them.

Which meant that Reborn would just have to dump that unpleasant task on some other poor fool.

The next call he made rang for an annoyingly long time. But then, few dared to make Reborn wait, especially when he chose to contact them himself.

"Reborn?" Federico asked distractedly. "What is it? I'm kind of in the middle of…"

"You're going to get in touch with the Vindice and let them know that Rokudo Mukuro has been projecting himself outside his prison and possessing civilians," Reborn announced.

There was silence from the other end. "…What?" Federico said finally.

Reborn bit back a sigh. "Shut up and listen," he said. "Here is what happened…"

~.~.~

Chewing his lip uncertainly, Tsuna scrolled through his messages again. On the bright side, Chrome, Shigure and Ryo had all replied, and they seemed to be alright. On the down side…

Chrome's message was short and unrevealing. '_I'm fine,_' '_I'm glad you're alright,_' and '_I'm sorry_' was all it said. Tsuna knew she didn't have her IoF account linked to a cellphone, so calling her on voice chat was pointless, and she hadn't logged in again in the two days since the incident.

Shigure and Ryo's PMs were equally unsettling. Neither remembered even deciding to go explore the mist area, or anything about the mist at all. Both of them sounded fine, but suddenly claimed to have errands to run that kept them from logging in either. Reborn had suggested that it was a subtle form of mental suggestion left behind by Mukuro and said that it had occurred in a few other players, but that they seemed alright otherwise.

It was the last message that perplexed Tsuna most of all. The sender was someone he had never heard of, but in the body, the mystery player introduced himself.

'_This is Irie Shoichi,_' it said. '_What did you do? The server crashed last night! Something like that only happens because of Over Rank. That's why I told you to be careful. The admins will want to talk to you. Good luck._'

Server crash… Tsuna had a feeling he knew what had happened, but he still needed to confirm. So despite a certain sense of trepidation, he found himself logging in again and setting out quickly toward the Yamato territory and the Western Pass.

Except that even as he started down the highway, Tsuna could see that there was no Western Pass on the list of destinations. In its place… The Chosen: Skyland Highland.

'I thought so…' Tsuna sighed, tapping the area name. 'So that's how they're created — the Hell Holes…'

~.~.~

The Western Pass had originally been a set of trails winding through a valley on the slopes near Yamato. That was completely gone now. The entire western face of Yamato was transformed.

The slopes had been raised, forming a highland that was intersected by narrow crevasses. Most players would be forced to scale the sheer cliffs that now faced the highway — though Tsuna was able to fly up easily enough.

Surprisingly, the highlands weren't bare. Instead, each strip of land between the gorges was covered in the green vegetation that had been native to the Western Pass and many colorful flowers. Warm thermals rose up from the deep cracks, ruffling Tsuna's hair as he stood at the edge of one. He supposed they were just narrow enough to jump over, for most players.

"…Did I really do this?" he wondered, thinking back on that battle — the way his Flames had engulfed the entire pass, carving into the earth and pushing the broken cliffs upward.

"Indeed," a cool voice came from behind him, making Tsuna jump and spin around.

Two administrators were watching him without expression, seemingly having appeared out of thin air.

"This is the result of your power," one of them said.

"You are truly Over Rank," the other agreed.

"What does that mean?" Tsuna demanded, all of his unease and fear rushing back. "What happened here? And what was that mist? That man, Rokudo Mukuro?"

"The exact mechanics are not yet understood," a Cervello said, "but those wielding a power greater than the system can override it and change this world according to their will."

"That is the power of an Over Rank, which you wield, and also which that uncategorized presence wielded," the other added. "That one, while powerful, was an outsider and could not anchor the changes made. You, however, thus created a new locale. The previously existing area was overwritten with the system's interpretation of your input."

She gestured around them to the highlands. It was hard to believe that the chaotic battlefield of two nights before had created something so peaceful. It was hard to believe Tsuna had created something like this. Were the other special areas created the same way? Was this, somehow, a reflection of Tsuna's Flames — his thoughts and his will?

"We are even now working to understand the nature of that power. For that, we would ask your assistance," one of the admins continued, making Tsuna glance toward them again in surprise.

"We extend an invitation for you to participate in a special research experiment," the other continued. "Of course, you will be generously compensated."

"Special experiment?" Tsuna repeated. A discomforting shiver went down his spine. Taking a step back, he said, "Sorry, but I'm a minor. I don't think I can do stuff like that. My parents wouldn't agree…"

There was no change in the Cervello's expressions, in their unwavering regard. "That is irrelevant. Only you are required, here in this world," one of them said.

The other held out her hand. "You will have all the answers you seek — about your power, about your true nature, about the world and your place in it."

"I," Tsuna began, swallowing heavily, "I already have a place. I mean, I'm living there right now."

And it was true. He might have felt out of place in the real world once, trudging through the days without purpose, but that had changed. He had decided he would change that Sawada Tsunayoshi too. He would keep trying, the same way as Ieyasu. And he had Gokudera, and Lambo, now.

"But surely you have always felt it," the Cervello pressed, "that you are not like the others. You have a power that separates you."

"I was scared when it appeared at first," Tsuna admitted, his expression tense and furrowed — uneasy with their insistence. "I tried to hide from the entire world — from school, from my mom even. But I have people who helped me figure it out. There's no reason for me to be separate from them. No, it's the opposite. Because of this power, there are people I've grown closer to." He smiled suddenly. "There's someone I met only because of this power."

It was a minute shift… But something in the Cervello's stance changed, almost as if they were about to—

The moment passed. Instead, the Cervello focused on something over his shoulder, though Tsuna was still somehow too unsettled to turn and check for himself. Even though he shouldn't have felt it, he knew his heart was pounding.

"Contact us, when you are ready," one of the admins told him.

"We will be waiting," the other added, before both dissolved into light and disappeared completely.

Tsuna slumped in relief, letting a heavy sigh. The feeling of a large hand on his shoulder made him jump and glance back, only to smile and relax again.

"Leon-san," Tsuna greeted, a little weakly.

Reborn took a moment to respond, his eyes narrowed as he looked at the place the Cervello had been standing.

"Chaos," he said finally. "Looks like you've gotten caught up in some big." Though he was smiling, there was no humor in the almost dangerous expression he turned on Tsuna. "So. Let's talk."

~.~.~

After hearing the whole story, the first thing Reborn did was chew Tsuna out. "Don't go accepting something so fishy!" he ordered. "Don't you have any common sense? Some special experiment, completely under the table? It doesn't get more suspicious than that!"

"I… wasn't going to?" Tsuna muttered helplessly.

Reborn ignored him. "In the first place, coming back after an experience like that means you're either very brave or very stupid. But since I know you're a wimp, that basically means you're very stupid," he went on.

He was spouting complete nonsense. In truth, it wasn't that he thought that Tsuna would be foolish enough to take the Cervello up on their supposed offer. It was that he didn't think Tsuna's answer would matter. He was one of ten special subjects, in what was looking more and more like someone's mass experiment.

Federico hadn't known what to make of the Cervello's comments and lack of action regarding the situation with Rokudo Mukuro, but to Reborn it had all suddenly become clear. They were monitoring an unexpected but fascinating deviation in their experiment. Why act when they could wait and learn more?

And in the meantime, they had been making their own moves…

"Is it… still dangerous?" Tsuna asked. "Is he going to come back? Rokudo Mukuro?"

"…No," Reborn said. "I don't expect he will."

He didn't elaborate further. He didn't want to explain to Tsuna the information he had received — about an unknown group making a deal with the Vindice for the transfer of a prisoner into their custody. No one had claimed credit, despite a successful deal with the Vindice being something to boast about, and of course the Vindice were silent as always.

But Reborn could guess. Most likely, the Cervello had already acquired Rokudo Mukuro, for their own purposes.

Tsuna sighed, relieved even with just that. Then, he chuckled, drawing a strange look from Reborn. "It's just, I know we were talking about how this isn't just a game, but I didn't expect it to become so real all of a sudden," Tsuna explained.

Neither had Reborn. His simple pastime had suddenly become an entire conspiracy. 'At this rate, this kid's going to turn out to be Vongola Primo's long lost son or something,' Reborn though irritably. 'Why can't things just be simple?'

"Are you going to keep playing?" Reborn asked abruptly, the idea only just occurring to him. "No one would blame you for backing out after something like that." After all, conspiracy theories aside, Tsuna was just an ordinary kid. There was no reason for him to keep putting himself in danger like that.

Tsuna turned to stare at him blankly, as if the idea hadn't even occurred to him before. "Of course!" he burst out. "There's no way I'd stop! I love IoF! I love this world, and my guild, and-and all my friends! And just giving like that would be as if I lost! Well, not that I haven't lost plenty of times… I'm actually pretty used to losing… But this is different! Ieyasu wouldn't give up just like that, on his friends! _I'm_ not going to give up just like that!"

Staring at him for a moment, Reborn sighed. It probably would have been better — definitely safer — for him to give up, but… somehow, Reborn was glad for that unexpected resolve.

"But I guess… the others might," Tsuna realized, slumping a little. "It must have been terrifying for them. And even though I'm their guild master, I couldn't protect them at all. I'm supposed to be strong here, but that didn't really help…"

'What's the point of it, if all my friends got hurt anyway?' Tsuna thought miserably.

"Quit whining," Reborn huffed. "You all made it out alright. So there's nothing to cry about. Next time, you'll do it faster, right?"

"…Right," Tsuna agreed, his expression transforming into a determined look. "I won't let them down again."

They lapsed into a thoughtful silence, looking across the panorama of the highlands. Gusts of wind tugged at their clothing, a rare area effect, and Tsuna almost thought they felt warm. Though there were clouds hovering around Yamato's peak in the distance, the sky above the highlands themselves was clear and blue. It looked peaceful and safe — which made him wonder. Wasn't this another ultra-hard special area?

"Told you it'd be so tame no one would even realize it's the same as those Hell Holes," Reborn said, as if reading Tsuna's mind. He met Tsuna's glare with a smirk. "Wanna try it?"

That drew a surprised laugh from Tsuna. Taking on an area he had more or less created… It was a strange thought. "No, that wouldn't be right," he said, shaking his head. "I think… I'd have too much of an advantage here. It's almost like… my territory too."

Reborn shrugged. Clapping Tsuna on the shoulder again, he turned to go, but not before adding, "Don't stay too long. And be careful."

Tsuna watched him make his way to the edge of the plateau and casually jump off, the warning echoing in his mind. "I know," he muttered, glancing over the highlands one more time.

Beyond several on the crevices and the heat haze of the warm air rising from them, he thought he caught a glimpse of movement. There was a figure, seemingly hovering just above the ground. A dark cloak, messy hair that shone bronze under the sun… a half mask, covering the eyes…

It looked like him, Tsuna realized, wide eyed, or maybe like Ieyasu. But even as he tried to get a closer, clearer look, the figure turned away, cloak swirling dramatically, and vanished like a mirage.

~.~.~

As Reborn approached the highway at the edge of the Highlands, he could see two figures — black and white, with the same pastel pink hair — waiting for him. At least, they had better have been waiting for him, and not trying to waylay Tsuna again. The Cervello had looked to be conferring silently, their lips not moving, no sound emerging, but their body language indicating a conversation, but they looked up as he drew closer.

"Your presence has been requested," one of them informed him, in that detached, high handed manner.

The other added, "Your questions will be answered, Arcobaleno Reborn."

He had been about to refuse, but…

Reborn smiled, sharp edged. "Those answers better be good. Lead the way," he said smoothly.

The Cervello didn't bother to reply. As soon as he gave his agreement, the light of a teleportation engulfed them. There were several seconds of transfer, leaving Reborn suspended in a completely blank white space, and then the world reformed around him, but showing completely different scenery.

The sky had been replaced by a black, star-studded nightscape — or rather, by space. It took a moment, but Reborn recognized the pale light coming from below. It was a panorama of the planet, blue and white. There, stretching away from the platform they stood on, was the aurora-like path of light, which led to white tower that extended down and down.

A glance at his display confirmed the location: _World Edge: Observatory [Access Restricted]_, the admin-only area he and Tsuna had reached by climbing the White Tower.

Turning, Reborn glanced over at the floating building he had seen from a distance back then. It was largely featureless, like something between a factory and a space station, a grey and white conglomeration that hovered on the edge of the light world below and the black space above.

"Please follow us," one of the Cervello instructed, and the two of them started toward the row of clear doors that lined the platform.

Inside the building was… just like the lobby of a corporate office. It might have even been copied off of one. A tall ceiling several stories high, a minimalistic decor, a polished floor, even an empty reception desk on one side. It was all completely empty.

So the approach of a fourth individual was obvious. His footsteps clicked sharply against the floor as he made his way across the lobby — a tall, thin figure in a white labcoat.

Reborn's eyes narrowed. "You," he said, some displeased emotion in his tone. "Verde."

"It's been a long time, 'Reborn,'" Verde said drolly. "Or do you prefer 'Leon?'"

"So you're behind this whole thing. A modern day Da Vinci, huh. I didn't take you for the type to make games, of all things," Reborn said, slouching casually. He refused to give Verde the satisfaction of reacting to his taunts. The thought that the scientist had been watching him the entire time was… unpleasant, but still Reborn wasn't one to show his emotions so easily.

"This is all part of my research," Verde said. He nodded dismissively to the Cervello and turned, jerking his head toward a set of what looked like elevator doors. "Come on. You've been making a nuisance of yourself, so I'll explain a few things. Consider it a special service for my fellow Arcobaleno."

Holding back a scowl, Reborn followed.

~.~.~

The elevator ride passed in silence, as did the short walk down an equally forgettable hallway. Finally, Verde led the way into an empty meeting room and took his place at the end of the long table, as the presenter. Crossing his arms, Reborn leaned against the table edge, between two chairs, and waited impatiently.

Though he was sure his emotions were well hidden, Verde still smirked — no doubt enjoying holding most of, if not all, the cards.

"I know you already did your research on the Cervello," Verde began, slipping his hands into the pockets of his coat. "Well, you tried, at least. Naturally, you turned up nothing. It must have been almost as if the Cervello appeared out of thin air. But that's impossible, considering the power, resources, and skill they wield, wouldn't you say?"

Reborn didn't dignify him with a response. Those were, in fact, his thoughts as well. It was a conundrum. The Cervello must have existed before releasing the VR technology and IoF. But if so, why was it impossible to find any trace of their history?

"Don't feel bad. I had never heard of them either, until they approached me," Verde said, with mocking sympathy. "In fact, the Cervello have existed for centuries, longer than the mafia itself. Though, of course, they used many other names. They are a secret society that holds the key to many secrets of the world itself."

"So this ancient order decided to reveal itself… by making a game," Reborn drawled.

"Don't be stupid. It doesn't suit you," Verde chided, sighing. "You know this isn't a game. I originally designed this technology, with the help of two of my colleagues, to learn more about Flames. What became the VR interface was a specialized scanning device that bypassed the normal limits of the mind to better access the Flames of the subjects. That was when they approached us."

'Research about Flames… In other words, about our curse,' Reborn thought. Verde and Viper had always been the most determined to find a way out. They had each gone about searching for a solution in their own ways, according to their fields.

"The Cervello deal primarily in knowledge. They maintain copies of technologies and inventions that have otherwise been all but erased from history," Verde continued. "At first, they had only wanted a copy of our work, but they saw the potential in it. The potential to fulfill a need. You see, the Cervello were charged with a certain duty… I'm sure even you know about the Trinisette."

He said it so casually, as if it was common knowledge.

Reborn supposed he should have realized it from the start, when he and Tsuna faced the boss of the White Tower. It was obvious, now, what his pre-battle dialogue was referring to — ancient treasures of great power, left behind by something that seemed to exceed humanity.

That was the Trinisette — three sets of seven objects, all allowing their users to harness their Flames to an unmatched level. The Arcobaleno's Pacifiers were one third, which was why Reborn had looked into it, once. The Vongola Rings were another. The third… there was no information about it, though going by Tsuna's screenshot of the tablet, it looked to be another set of rings.

Knowledge of the Trinisette existed as a kind of fairytale or urban legend in the mafia. Its origins were unclear. There was no reason why anyone would link two seemingly unconnected sets of objects with a third that no one had even seen. But that knowledge persisted all the same.

It was finding anything more concrete that proved impossible.

"There are still many questions that have not been answered, but the Cervello were charged with overseeing the two sets of rings," Verde went on. "The third, of course, has its own overseer… The Vongola Rings were granted to the famiglia's founder long ago, so they have simply observed their passage through the successive generations of bosses. But the other rings, the Mare Rings — the Cervello had not been able to find suitable masters for them. And that is where this system comes in."

Reborn had tilted his head to hide his scowl under the brim of his fedora, at the mention of that man. But he looked up again, as they finally reached the important part. "The game measures Flames," he said. "It can be used to find people with strong Flames." That was, after all, what Federico had been using it for. His intuition had always been strong, if incomplete.

Verde hummed in agreement. "I learned quite a bit, from what they requested," he said, smirking self-satisfied. "Those requirements are quite likely similar for our situation… What matters isn't even the highest possible output, but the level of Flames that can be continually maintained. Ergo, these objects continually feed on the Flames of wearers. Didn't you ever wonder why your rank is so low, despite being of the Strongest Seven? It's because so much of our Flames is being devoured by those things. The cursed form is likely also… Well, I'm getting ahead of myself there."

Even after so many years, thinking about, discussing their… condition made some part of Reborn twist in disgust.

"The requirement," Reborn said quickly. "It's Over Rank, isn't it. That's why you used that title for the bosses based on them. They're 'selected' just like we were. …That's what those notes were about."

Verde smiled, like a professor receiving the direct answer. "Exactly so. Though you weren't intended to receive those. That data ended up getting dragged in when the area was reformatted. Such is the flaw in a system that links directly into the mind, I suppose. So many unpredictable variables…" He shook his head, brushing the thought away. "The boundary, of course, is set at the level the Cervello requested. They have already gained a full set, but they understand what an opportunity this is and have continued to support me research."

"Oh? Something these overseer info dealers don't know?" Reborn asked dryly. "So much for holding the secrets of the world itself."

"I have no interest in their agenda," Verde admitted, shrugging. "As long as they back my studies, their end goals and machinations are irrelevant to me. All that matters is getting closer to my goal — finding a way to break free of this curse. Surely, even you understand that. That's why I decided to have this chat with you. Don't go and do something unnecessary. I don't have time to deal with you."

This time, Reborn couldn't fight back a sneer. Verde had a lot of nerve, telling him what to do. "If that's all you have to say, I'm leaving," he said, pushing off the edge of the table and turning to do just that. "'I don't have time' to listen to you ramble on."

Verde smiled. "Oh, and Reborn," he added, "do try to use your Flames a bit more. It would make for useful data."

Without dignifying him with a response, Reborn stalked out of the meeting room. The Cervello were already waiting for him in the hallway.

~.~.~


	10. Boss Rush

~.~.~

**Title: **Inheritors of Flame**  
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**Last time:** By activating his full powers as an Over Rank, Tsuna drew the attention of the Cervello, who offered him the option of participating in special research, for a reward. In a meeting with Reborn, his fellow Arcobaleno Verde explained that he and his colleagues had created the VR gear as a means of studying Flames. The Cervello, an ancient secret society, had chosen to lend their support in the creation of IoF as a way of finding individuals with strong Flames to inherit the other parts of the Trinisette.

**Notes: **Chrome arc. Prepare for questionable medical bs, questionable choreography, and questionable power levels.

~.~.~

**Chapter 7: Boss Rush  
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Tsuna surreptitiously sighed in relief as Shigure and Ryo arrived, filing last into the guildhall's main room. It had been a week since the mist incident, and this was the first time Tsuna had seen them log on. Even if he had known they were alright, seeing it with his own eyes eased something tense in his gut.

It was also the first time he had seen Chrome since then, and surprisingly, the guild's newest member was the one to call the meeting.

"Thank you for coming," Chrome said quietly, as they all took their places. "Um, I really appreciate it, and everything you've done for me… Um, no, that comes later… Ah…"

Seeing his guildmate struggling, Tsuna said encouragingly, "You wanted to tell us something, right, Chrome? It's okay, take your time."

"Yes…" Taking a deep breath, Chrome looked up and stated, "I, I won't be able to play any longer after this. This is… my last time logging on, so I came to say goodbye to all of you. Being in this guild with all of you has made me very happy. Thank you."

He — she — bowed deeply, in the stunned silence that followed.

None of them had expected this, not in the least.

Tsuna was the first to break out of his stupor. "What? Why?" he blurted out. "What's wrong? Is it… because of last week? I know it must have been scary, but… But I promise I'll protect you next time! As the guild master, I will—"

Chrome shook her head, cutting him off. "It's not that," she said quietly. "I'm not quitting the guild. I just… can't play anymore. It's not that I don't want to, but I just… I won't be able to anymore, soon. And I didn't want to leave all of you hanging."

"W-well, I guess everyone has their circumstances," Shigure said, still blinking as if trying to recover from a blow to the head. "If it's a real life thing, it can't be helped… Good luck, with whatever it is."

"Good luck, to the extreme," Ryo agreed, seriously.

Biting her lip, Chrome nodded. "Yeah… Thank you, for everything."

He didn't want it to end like this, Tsuna thought. It wasn't that one of them was leaving — it has been a shock, but he knew it would happen one day. Someday, everyone would have to say goodbye.

But not like this. This was all wrong. If he let Chrome disappear like this, he'd regret it, without a doubt. That much, he was certain of.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" he asked, studying Chrome worriedly. "Please, tell me. You're not just part of my guild. You're my friend. If there's anything at all…"

Chrome looked back at him for a long moment, her expression painfully forlorn and… defeated.

"Please, Chrome…" Tsuna repeated, reaching out to rest his hand on her shoulder.

"Nagi," she said quietly. "My name is Nagi." She darted a quick glance at him, but Tsuna's expression of concern hadn't changed. "Boss… I… I'd like to make a selfish request… I really wanted to meet you, when you said you'd be going to Tokyo. Could you… come see me, just once?"

"Of course," Tsuna replied without hesitation. "Where?"

Chrome smiled softly. "I'll PM you the address," she said, reaching up to squeeze the hand on her shoulder.

In the silence that followed when Chrome logged out, Gokudera and Lambo exchanged a look. They would be coming too, definitely. They weren't as attached as Tsuna, mostly content with just the three of them in Namimori, but they wouldn't let him go alone.

At the same time, Shigure darted a glance toward the last member of their guild, but Ryo didn't notice, standing stone still with his arms crossed and an expression of deep concentration on his face.

Shigure frowned uncertainly for a moment before speaking up, "Hey, Ieyasu," he said slowly. "Can you… send me the address?"

"Huh? Why?" Tsuna asked reflexively, pulled out of his thoughts.

"I'm going to come too," Shigure said. He went on before anyone could comment, "I wanted to meet you too, back then. Even when I was training with the team, I kept thinking about it. And I just…" He ran a hand through his short dark hair, trying to find the words. "What if I have to stop playing too? I don't want to end up regretting not taking the chance to meet you. So I want to come too."

Tsuna nodded slowly, bemused. "Alright… I'll let you know," he said. "But it's okay, you know, even if we don't meet in person. You don't have to force yourself."

"No," Ryo declared, "he's extremely right! I'm coming too!"

Giving up, Tsuna just smiled ruefully. "Well, that's good, I guess. I'm sure Chrome will be happy to see all of us."

~.~.~

Tsuna looked up at the tall white building that was their destination, then down at his cell phone, where Chrome's PM was open. "This is the right address…" he muttered. "But…" There was a growing sense of foreboding in the pit of his stomach, cold and heavy.

"But that's a hospital," Lambo finished for him, frowning in confusion. "Why'd Chrome tell us to come to the hospital?"

"M-maybe someone in his family is sick?" Shigure — or rather, Yamamoto Takeshi, as he had introduced himself when they met at the train station — suggested, something like an uncertain, awkward smile turning up the corner of his lips. "Maybe that's why he wanted to meet up, like emotional support…?"

He didn't really believe that. Probably, he suspected the same thing as Tsuna.

"Then we'll have to give him our extreme condolences!" Ryo — Sasagawa Ryohei — declared. "So it's not good to make him wait!"

"…Yeah. Let's go," Tsuna agreed quietly.

Inside the hospital, their group moved into what seemed to Tsuna to be the most isolated, empty corner of the building. As they walked along the clean, austere hallways, they passed fewer and fewer other people — nurses, doctors, visitors, all became rarer and rarer until they were practically alone.

Finally, Tsuna came to a stop in front of the right room, everyone else crowding behind him, and raised his hand to knock. "Hello? Nagi?" he called out.

There was a long pause before a quiet voice replied. "Come in."

The room they filed into was even more plain than the hallways — all white, without a single decoration. There were several empty beds, the privacy curtains drawn only around the one in the far corner. One other bed was occupied — by a girl of about fourteen, swathed in bandages, including around her right eye. Next to her, several machines beeped steadily, trailing wires to her body.

Nagi's single eye widened as she caught sight of them — Tsuna, followed by Gokudera and Lambo, with Ryohei and Yamamoto bringing up in the rear. She hadn't expected them all to come. But a soft, grateful smile spread across her face.

"…Thank you," she said quietly. "Um, it's… nice to meet you…"

"Yeah," Tsuna agreed, swallowing back a sudden sense of nausea. "You too! I'm Tsuna! And this is Gokudera, and Lambo. He's always Lambo."

"That's because Lambo-san is awesome," Lambo declared, crossing his arms and puffing up. "Lambo-san is always Lambo-san!"

"You're always a stupid cow, is what you are," Gokudera grumbled.

The familiar back and forth made Nagi — all of them, really — relax a little. They shared a chuckle, as they moved to stand around Nagi's bed.

"So you're a girl, Chrome?" Ryohei asked. "I extremely had no idea!"

'You're the only one, Oniisan,' Tsuna thought, smiling wryly, while Nagi nodded, blushing.

"And Lambo's just a kid!" Ryohei went on. "This is all extremely surprising!"

"You're the only one that's surprised, Turftop," Gokudera said, making a face.

Ryohei turned to him, eyes narrowing in thought. "You… still look like an octopus!" he decided. "Even though the color's different!"

Tsuna was sure what part of Gokudera's silver hair — compared to his online character's magenta — looked like an octopus, but Lambo immediately added in his own agreement, probably just to annoy Gokudera. As the three of them squabbled, Nagi giggled quietly, one delicate hand coming up to cover her mouth.

"Are you… not going to be able to log on anymore because you're in the hospital?" Tsuna asked tentatively, sitting down on the edge of her bed.

Nagi's happy expression faltered. "N-no… It's the opposite, really," she said, haltingly. "I was able to play because I've been in the hospital all this time. Long term patients who can't move around much are allowed to use the hospital VR systems, for mental health and things like that. My parents wouldn't have let me get one…"

"T-then you're being released soon?" Tsuna guessed. But somehow, he already knew it wasn't such a happy situation. He didn't know why, but he felt cold. The uneasy feeling had become utter dread.

The smile Nagi gave him was sad, and knowing. "No," she said. "I'll be leaving soon… but I won't be going home. You see… I was in an accident. There was a lot of damage…" Reaching up, she placed a hand over the bandages covering her eye. "To my internal organs too. I've been kept alive this long, but the doctors said it's not going to be much longer."

The others had fallen silent, only the beeping of the monitoring machines accompanying her quiet words. They all seemed to hold their breath, on the edge of understanding, but refusing to face the painful truth Nagi was sharing with them.

"After… after what happened, I realized I don't want to just disappear one day, without explaining anything," Nagi went on. "That's why I wanted to say goodbye properly. And to thank you for everything."

She looked at each of them, smiling softly despite the shocked, horrified, uncomprehending expressions they were wearing.

"After the accident… I didn't understand why I had survived. When I was told that I would still die soon, I thought, 'I wish I had just died then.' I thought there was no point in living," Nagi said. "But it was worth it. In that little time, I was able to meet all of you. The adventures we had together… These are my most precious memories. Like this, I don't regret a single thing. That's why I wanted to say it, to Boss, to all of you…

"Thank you."

Tsuna jumped, startled, as the door was slammed open. As he glanced over quickly, he caught a glimpse of Yamamoto, hurrying out into the hallway.

He turned back to Nagi, who had laid a gentle hand over his and smiled in understanding.

Standing, Tsuna nodded and followed Yamamoto.

~.~.~

Yamamoto hadn't gone far down the hallway, and Tsuna caught up to him easily.

"Sorry," Yamamoto said quietly, without turning. "I shouldn't have run out like that. It's just… My mom, you know, she died in the hospital. It was illness… But it just reminded me of that."

"It's okay. You… don't have to stay, if it's too hard," Tsuna said. "You can head to the hotel first, or home, if you like. I think Chrome, um, Nagi will understand."

Yamamoto's shoulders slumped a little as he heaved a sigh. He shook his head. "No, I'll stay," he said. "If… If this is the last time we see her, I don't want to miss it. I'll regret that way more." He tried to smile reassuringly, finally facing Tsuna, but the expression was terribly strained.

Then again, Tsuna doubted his own face was any better.

As they made their way back to Nagi's hospital room, they could hear the sounds of another argument already underway, accompanied by Ryohei's boisterous laughter. Tsuna sighed quietly in relief, glad that the guild was doing everything they could to make their time with Nagi happy.

"Excuse me, are you with the group visiting Nagi-chan?"

Tsuna glanced up in surprise as a nurse hailed him and Yamamoto. "Um, yes… Are we being too loud?" he asked. "I'm sorry. I'll ask them to be more considerate…"

The young nurse smiled and shook her head. "No, it's alright. It's good to have some life in this ward. Most of the patients are using the VR system anyway, so they won't notice," she said. "I was just surprised. You're the first ones to visit her since she was admitted."

"Then, her parents also, in the accident…?"

The harsh, angry expression on her face made Tsuna trail off. "Those two…" The nurse pursed her lips, trying to remain professional, but the indignation bubbled up until she couldn't hold it back. "They just abandoned her here once they found out about her condition. It doesn't even have to be this way! Just because they don't want to pay—"

She shook her head, cutting herself off.

"In any case, thank you for visiting that girl," the nurse said instead. "I'm glad she's able to smile at least a little before…"

"Wait," Tsuna broke in, "what do you mean it doesn't have to be like this? Is there a way for Nagi to get better?" When the nurse hesitated, he pressed on, "Please! I — we — want to help her! She's our friend! If there's anything we can do…"

The nurse smiled sadly. "I don't think it's something you can help with. There's an operation that could fix the damage, but it's very long and difficult… and expensive."

"How much? Can it be done here?" Tsuna insisted, grasping at the narrow thread of hope.

"It can… But the cost is…" Hesitantly, the nurse gave them a number that made Yamamoto's eyebrows rise in shock. It was the kind of thing most people didn't earn in a year.

Tsuna bit his lip. His father was well off, certainly, to the point that Tsuna hadn't hesitated to use his credit card to book them a couple of rooms in a hotel nearby, but that was more than he could imagine even his lax parents allowing, for a girl they'd never even met, maybe even more than they had, honestly.

Understanding his thoughts, the nurse patted him gently on the shoulder. "It's alright," she said. "What you're doing is already more than enough."

~.~.~

But Tsuna didn't feel that way. Even as he and Yamamoto slipped back into the hospital room and all of them spent several happy hours together before being chased out at the end of visiting hours, it didn't feel like enough. Even if Nagi was smiling happily, it wasn't enough.

He was still thinking that as they gathered in their hotel rooms — two for the whole group, Yamamoto and Ryohei sharing one, Tsuna, Gokudera, and Lambo in the other.

While Gokudera and Lambo argued over sleeping arrangements and how to use the two beds in the room, Tsuna let himself fall back on one of the mattresses and stared up at the ceiling.

'There has to be something I can do,' he thought. 'I promised I'd protect everyone in the guild… But how can I get that much money, and quickly? A part time job wouldn't help here! All I'm good at is playing IoF and that's not something you can make money from—'

_"Of course, you will be generously compensated."_

That was what the Cervello had said. A special experiment, because he was Over Rank…

Sitting up quickly, Tsuna made his way to their bags. Just in case, they had packed up their VR gear and brought it with them. Now, he pulled out one of the systems and began to set it up.

"Boss? You're going to log on?" Gokudera asked, noticing what he was doing.

"Yeah," Tsuna said distractedly. "There's something I need to take care of, right now. Listen, no matter what happens, don't disconnect it, okay? This is something I have to do."

~.~.~

"We will now initiate Deep Dive mode," one of the Cervello operators announced, her voice ringing in Tsuna's mind through voice chat. "Are you ready? Standby for full link in three… two… one… Start."

Tsuna winced, as his connection shifted. It wasn't painful, exactly, just a very strong pins and needles sensation. His avatar wavered, run through by static, and when Tsuna could see clearly again, his hands were much smaller — his own, Tsuna's real hands. Instead of Ieyasu, there was only Tsuna, fifteen, short and scrawny, left standing there.

It wasn't a surprise. Those were the conditions of the experiment — to replicate reality as closely as possible, with his real form and the feedback modifier turned off. In other words, with all sensations as real as in the physical world — including pain, Tsuna thought, a shiver going down his spine.

"Now entering testing area," the Cervello operator continued.

Light filtered suddenly through the grating of the old fashioned elevator's sides. Beyond the cage-like elevator shaft, Tsuna could see a massive half lit chamber, filled with rectangular structures like giant boxes. The area indicator still read _World Edge: Observatory [Access Restricted]_, but a second line had been added under it — _Special Zone: Sub-level 44_.

The cage elevator jerked to a stop, making Tsuna stumble. His body felt… heavy, though that wasn't quite the right word. Solid, real. There was a sense of presence that he hadn't realized was usually lacking in IoF. As the crossed bar gate slid open, chilled air blew into the elevator, making Tsuna shiver.

Nervously tugging at his armored gloves, Tsuna stepped out into the testing field. The cavernous chamber was similar to a warehouse or an airplane hanger, but much darker and more oppressive in atmosphere. Harsh lights hung down from the high ceiling, among a mess of metal beams and pipes. Stacked across the floor were towers of giant boxes, like over large shipping containers, or some kind of prefabricated housing structures.

As he cautiously began to make his way forward, Tsuna could see his breath mist in the cold air. Clouds of steam were billowing out from narrow vents and pipes in the floor as well. Light reflected off the vapor eerily. That would make it harder to notice anyone trying a sneak attack.

'That just means I won't rely on my eyes,' Tsuna thought, taking a deep breath and letting his eyes fall shut.

"Dying Will Mode" wasn't the only unique skill on Tsuna's list, not by a long shot. That was only natural — most high level players created their own skills; or maybe the ability to create skills was what it took to become a high level player. Though even the top ranks, continuous support skills were rare.

But Tsuna was the only one he had ever met who had acquired a unique sub property. Like Mist Construction, Sun Activation or even his own Sky Harmony, ever since he had used Dying Will Mode properly for the first time, listed in his profile was also "Hyper Intuition."

A sub property, always present and "on" even what it wasn't in use. Like the Flame properties, it didn't always apply. But when it did…

The best way Tsuna could explain it was a sixth sense. An awareness of everything around him that didn't require his eyes or his ears. Knowing there was an enemy behind him, behind that boulder, knowing what their next move would be as clearly as if they had telegraphed it. Knowing the best counter, the way to slip by without a scratch, as if it was a routine he had memorized.

When he opened his eyes, they seemed to glow with the hot orange of his Flames. He turned his head slowly, contemplating the thin wire traps that had previously been invisible but now stood out clearly along every path forward.

There was a way past, of course. But Tsuna wasn't interested in playing around. The Cervello's terms were that he fight the five opponents waiting for him in the training area. He doubted they were interested in watching some acrobatics. Something like that wouldn't have required him, or this kind of setup.

With a burst of Sky Flames, Tsuna boosted himself on top of the nearest structure, then, after a quick glance around, onto another, and onward, to where his first opponent awaited him.

As he jumped down into the next open area, spotlights clicked on, flooding the arena with bright light. Wincing a little, Tsuna closed his eyes and took two steps back.

It was just in time — his opponent had arrived, crashing in front of him, knee first. It was a comet blow that could easily crush a spine.

"Oh, you dodged that well!" the man crowed, as he straightened. "And good job avoiding Bel's traps! That sneak, I'm supposed to be the first one up! Tsk, tsk, trying to steal the show!"

Slitting his eyes open again the blinding light, Tsuna studied him — a multicolored mohawk, well defined muscles under practical black clothes, a single metal kneepad, sun glasses. The ID tag read "Lussuria."

"Wait," Tsuna said as Lussuria slipped into a fighting stance. "Before we start, what were your terms? What did you agree to do?"

Lussuria chuckled. "Worried? Or just cautious? Well, it's cute either way," he said. "Don't worry, cutie, it's very simple. It's a deathwatch! We all try to kill you, and you try to survive!"

"This is going to hurt, for real," Tsuna warned him.

Again, Lussuria just laughed. "Oh, hun," he said, "I'm looking forward to it."

Then, he attacked. Though he had read it easily, Tsuna only barely dodged, the kick grazing his cheek. The sudden burn was startling and unexpectedly real, enough to make Tsuna stumble momentarily. That opening was enough, and Lussuria drove his knee into Tsuna's stomach.

He was sent flying, slamming into one of the buildings with a cut off cry. Falling to the ground, Tsuna could only twitch, his body refusing to obey as pain scrambled his senses and he struggled to draw breath.

It hurt. He wished it would stop. He wanted to run…

A faint image of Chrome, smiling, sad and resigned, as she thanked them, passed through Tsuna's mind. He had promised to protect them properly from now on. This was… This was nothing compared to that promise.

The Flame that had sputtered and almost gone out on his forehead flared, as Tsuna pushed himself to his feet and took a shuddering breath.

'He's fast,' Tsuna thought, watching Lussuria with narrowed eyes. The man was still where he had been, watching Tsuna in return with a pleased smile — happy that the fight wasn't over so easily. 'No,' Tsuna decided, 'it's not just that. I'm slower.'

His stats must have been cut to match his real physical parameters more closely. After all, his IoF abilities were flat out superhuman.

But that was fine. Tsuna could see his opponent and knew, knew that he could win. He would win.

If his own base speed was not enough, Tsuna would just need to make himself move faster. He didn't give Lussuria any warning. A burst of Flames from his gloves, and Tsuna closed the distance between them. His opponent, he acknowledged, was skilled and strong, reacting quickly enough to lash out with a kick that should have nailed Tsuna squarely in the side of the head.

Instead, with another burst of thrust, Tsuna darted past and behind Lussuria's back. His strength stat had also been cut, no doubt, and while Tsuna could use his Flames to bolster his hits, he suspected an experienced martial artist like his opponent would be able to withstand quite a beating, all the while giving him more time to deal damage to Tsuna in return.

So instead of of a bunch or a strike, Tsuna held his hand over Lussuria's back almost gently. "X Burner, quick load," he murmured.

The blast that shot out from his palm was far weaker than a full X Burner, and with no time to stabilize properly, it threw Tsuna back on recoil. He and Lussuria were tossed in opposite directions of the battleground, though Tsuna caught himself quickly and landed on his feet, sliding a little.

Lussuria wasn't so lucky. His body hit the ground with an unsettling crunch and tumbled a ways before coming to a stop. There was no HP bar, Tsuna realized, which should have appeared and decreased quickly. And the modified avatars showed no damage, leaving Tsuna uncertain about how to proceed. Could his opponent still keep going? For how long?

"Deep Dive destabilization. Alignment lost. Now disconnecting," a Cervello operator announced.

"W-wait, I can still…" Lussuria tried to say, only to cut himself off with a groan. His avatar was already beginning to dissolve.

In the next moment, his body burst into light, signifying log out.

There was no "_Congratulations!_" message, no victory BGM.

'…It really isn't a game anymore,' Tsuna thought, his arm curling around his sore midriff. But, he still had to win. He would win, no matter what.

~.~.~

When Tsuna jumped atop the rectangular structures again, he paused and looked around. Where was his next opponent?

Most of the training area remained in shadow, and the spotlights that had illuminated Lussuria's stage had gone out as well. The traps were fewer further from the elevator, but Tsuna could identify them by what he could best describe as a faint metallic "hum" from the crisscrossing wires and hidden blades scattered across the corridors down below.

There was something else in the air, which made it hard for him to perceive. A kind of tension or energy, prickling along his skin…

Tsuna threw himself aside just as a bolt of lightning split the air. He avoided the initial strike, but unlike natural lightning, the crackling energy didn't dissipate — it followed Tsuna, giving him no time to regain his footing.

With a burst of Flames, Tsuna propelled himself away and took to the air. That was a mistake. Another bolt of lightning crackled past, Tsuna just barely managing to airdash away. Then another, and another. The angle and source kept changing, never the same twice and always coming from behind or from the side.

He could barely keep ahead. The continuous lightning strikes, the light, the noise, the smell of ozone, the static electricity in air were throwing his senses into confusion. He couldn't predict where it was going to come from next.

'It's not from the ceiling. There is an origin point in the air…' Tsuna thought, as a lightning bolt seemed to come from below him somewhere. 'No, several points. And… It's going to them too. Those bolts haven't been hitting anything. Something floating, that shoots out lightning and can catch it too…'

In the chaos, there was no way Tsuna could get a clear shot on a small, moving target that he couldn't even pin down in the first place. And if he stopped even for a moment…

'I need to find the one controlling them,' Tsuna thought. But his focus had narrowed to keep up with the strikes. He needed to get away. 'I need to get out of the air,' he decided. Dodging would be harder on the ground, with his mobility restricted among the buildings, but at least the strikes would have to come from above and he would have some cover.

Just as he came to that decision, the attacks suddenly halted. Electricity crackled at eight floating points, arrayed in a circle around Tsuna.

His eyes widened. His thoughts raced, impossibly fast as time seemed to slow. 'If I get hit with that, it's over,' he knew instinctively. 'That kind of hard lightning will cut through my normal Flames too. If I try to dodge, they'll follow me. I won't be able to get out of the circle. And the lightning will be drawn to me. It's been homing in more and more with everything bolt. This is… an inescapable one-hit kill.'

That knowledge flashed through his mind in the split seconds before the lightning gathered in the floating weapons was ready to fire.

Not even sparing a moment to turn, Tsuna thrust himself downward, back first. He spun, trying to kill his momentum, just as he passed the rooftops into the alleyway below. The massive bolt of lightning, almost resembling a dragon, was on his heels. The flash was blinding, the crack of thunder deafening. The entire passage was engulfed, electricity running off along the structures on either side.

Watching from the shadows atop another building, the next opponent — ID: Levi-A-Than — commented, "Hmph. No one can escape the Levi Volta." As his Parabolas circled back to him, Levi scowled. "What was that trash Lussuria doing, losing to some brat like that? The Varia doesn't accept—"

He didn't get a chance to finish. A blast of powerful Sky Flames shot toward Levi, engulfing him in an instance.

'Impossible. He survived…?' was his last thought, before his mental connection wavered and broke, logging him out.

As the Flames cut off, Tsuna dropped to the ground, wincing and breathing harshly. Above him, the loose ends of the broken, melted wires began to drop, no longer buoyed by the hot air of the blast. He had thrown himself toward the nearest trap among the buildings below, just barely slipping past the razor-sharp wires and letting them divert the worst of the lightning strike, while he finally managed to find the one directing the attacks.

But he hadn't made it through entirely, and even though the cuts couldn't be seen, Tsuna could feel them, along his arms and legs. In particular, his left foot… it was all in his head, but he couldn't put weight on it. Just how deep had he gotten cut?

He felt lightheaded, and his vision was wavering. Tsuna closed his eyes, trying to center himself. The numb, disconnected feeling probably meant that he was losing the connection too. If he didn't pull it together, he would end up logging out as his mind withdrew in an attempt to protect itself — a natural version of the same sort of safety buffers IoF usually offered to players.

Come to think of it, maybe those weren't a system feature so much as a natural part of the VR technology…

'I'll ask Gokudera, once I'm done here,' Tsuna resolved. 'But right now… I can't stop yet. There's still three to go.'

Swaying, he stood and began to limp onward.

~.~.~

His Flames might have been inexhaustible, within the parameters of the system, but Tsuna himself still had limits — mental ones, if nothing else. Being shoved around by some bullies hadn't been close to preparing him for the phantom gnawing ache of injuries he couldn't see, and the tension of a battle with stakes like this was completely different from any fight he'd had in the game.

It was hard to focus, his surroundings seeming dulled and distant. Tsuna wasn't sure he'd be able to fly straight, especially not while keeping an eye out for attacks from the remaining three opponents. Instead, closing his eyes, he moved slowly through the maze of structures according to only his intuition.

Tsuna had done his best to avoid the booby-trapped passages, but it wasn't long before he found himself facing a crossroads where every direction was arrayed with the same razor wires and hidden blades.

'Was it always like that earlier?' he wondered, opening his eyes and frowning. 'No, I'm sure this direction was clear…' A realization made his frown deepen. 'They must have guessed by range of perception by watching how I avoided the traps. They must be on the move but staying out of my range…'

Which was to say his next opponent was smart and not interested in a direct confrontation unless on their terms. That wasn't good. Tsuna didn't feel up to trying to chase them down, but at thus rate it was only a matter of time before they came up with some strategy to use against him.

But he didn't gave any choice except to go on.

Raising one hand, Tsuna swept it out broadly. A wall of Flame flooded ahead of him. Crashing against the buildings, it split like a wave, and each portion continued to roll down the passages between. Under the heat and pressure, the crisscrossing wires snapped and burned away, leaving the way free.

Pure instinct made Tsuna throw himself to the ground — and not a instance too late. Sharp knives whipped past, several leaving narrow trails of burning pain on Tsuna arms, legs, and cheek. A fraction lower, and they would have stabbed right into his body.

His opponent had guessed correctly that Tsuna's attention would be split while he used his Flames — probably judging by the way he had chosen not to fly — and set the traps just to distract him.

Another volley of daggers was coming, and Tsuna tried to pivot out of the way, only to find his legs not responding. Glancing down he saw that his feet were inexplicably covered in ice, frozen to the ground.

'No, it's an illusion!' he thought frantically.

There was no time left now. Tsuna slammed his hands down onto the ground, Flames bursting out from the palms. They ripped through the illusion and launched Tsuna up into the air. He was able to avoid the barrage of daggers, but the jerking thrust and the awkward position put a painful strain on his body, and Tsuna thought his vision almost blacked out for a moment.

Cutting his Flames and letting himself hang for a moment in free fall above the buildings, Tsuna focused on finding his opponent. There, on a rooftop, in prime position to launch his attacks, a blond teenager about Tsuna's age. His ID tag read "Belphegor."

He was already reacting to Tsuna's sudden escape, more knives glinting in his hands and nearly invisible wires coiling around him. But his stance was light on his feet, ready to spring away at any moment, at the slightest sign of Tsuna unleashing his Flames toward him.

He was smart. He had read Tsuna this far. If Tsuna dragged it out, kept up the game of dodging and evading… Who would win? Not to mention, Belphegor wasn't a Mist type, Tsuna could tell. There was another one out there. Well, there was no rule they had to come one at a time.

'I need to finish this quickly,' Tsuna thought. He wouldn't be able to take Belphegor by surprise from a distance, but that just meant he needed to get close, in the moment when he was most distracted.

Meeting Belphegor's gaze, Tsuna glared and burst straight toward him in a headlong charge. Belphegor's grin widened, and he let his daggers fly, artfully arranged to be unavoidable.

Tsuna didn't try. There was no health bar in this mode, and that meant there was no damage limit, he had reasoned out. The only limit was whether you could force yourself to maintain the connection, ignoring the instinctive urge to pull away. Probably, all of his opponents had not used the VR system before; unfamiliar with it, they were easy knocked out of synch.

But Tsuna had been playing for a long time. He had never been hurt like this before, true, but he had kept himself logged in for days straight, at some points, ignoring hunger and lack of sleep to push through with a raid or a quest.

He wouldn't waver — not even when the sharp knives bit into his arms, hastily thrown up to protect his face. His momentum carried him through, and Tsuna caught the look of surprise on Belphegor's face before he slammed a Flame-infused punch into his face.

Unable to catch himself, Tsuna crashed into the rooftop and rolled to a stop, as his opponent dissolved into light, logging out.

The sharp tug of his intuition told him he needed to move, now, but a swarm of tentacles burst out from the rooftop, wrapping around him and trapping him in place. Something like a massive hammer appeared above him, blocking out the lights far overhead.

This attack, there would be no dodging.

But he had to do something. He had to make it through.

'It's only an illusion,' Tsuna told himself, closing his eyes and emptying his mind of everything except that nebulous sixth sense.

All of it was an illusion. An insubstantial thing given substance and reality only by his own will and decision to obey its rules. And if he chose to stop obeying, to stop giving it credence… he could just slip through…

The giant hammer slammed down onto the mass of tentacles, seemingly squashing them and the boy they had trapped. Floating far above, the illusionist — ID: Mammon — pressed his lips together thoughtfully.

'Just then, he… Well, it's only natural. After all, this whole world is just a mass illusion,' Mammon thought. He considered acting, putting forth more of his power but, 'He pulled an interesting trick there. It should be enough for them. After all, I'm not getting paid nearly enough for more than this…'

He made no move to avoid the massive blast of Flames that exploded out from inside the building he was hovering over, engulfing him completely, and allowed himself to be disconnected from the system.

Inside the structure, half destroyed by the X Burner fired from within, Tsuna let his arm drop and took a moment to just breathe.

"I… went through the roof?" he muttered to himself, looking bemusedly up at the destroyed ceiling. He had intended to let the illusions pass through him, by denying their existence, but instead he had passed through the roof he had been standing on.

Frowning, Tsuna backed up to the nearest wall and placed his hand against it. He closed his eyes and tried to recapture the same feeling — disconnected, but still present, like watching from high above…

He stumbled a little as he unexpectedly found himself without the support he had been leaning against. Opening his eyes, Tsuna could see he was out in the street again — he had passed through the wall, the same way.

Tsuna shook his head. "I… I guess it'll be useful for looking for the last one," he muttered. At least, he thought there was just one left to go. His head was swimming, and he could barely concentrate. Even going two days without sleep hadn't left him this disoriented…

Without realizing, he had slipped out of Dying Will Mode and let his intuition waver too. He jumped, badly startled, as the very person he had been thinking off spoke up behind him.

"No need. I've got no interest in playing tag with a brat," the last of his opponents said derisively, stepping out of the shadows nearby. His ID cursor read "Squalo." "Those useless scum are going to get it. Losing to trash like you, they're a disgrace to the Varia…"

"Don't… underestimate me," Tsuna muttered. His bravado fell flat as he struggled to even stand straight. All he could see was a blur of silver and black. "I didn't… win by a fluke."

"We'll see about that," Squalo sneered, raising his sword.

~.~.~

"Whatever happens, don't log me out," Tsuna had said before pulling the VR visor over his face.

He had looked utterly serious, more so than Gokudera could remember ever before — grim even, an expression that was out of place on the face of his kind, determined boss. But Gokudera was loathe to disobey. Whatever Tsuna was doing, it had to be important.

It might even save Chrome's life. There was no doubt that's what Tsuna would try, after all.

However, it was proving increasingly difficult to follow that command.

'Erratic heart rate, dropping body temperature, trouble breathing, even involuntary muscle contractions,' Gokudera thought back on the symptoms he had observed. 'This shouldn't be happening…'

A few involuntary movements, some changes in heart rate, maybe, but this was far beyond healthy, no matter what activity you were engaging in — much less while lying prone in bed.

Tsuna's narrow chest was heaving, his mouth parted as he struggled to draw breath. To Gokudera, he sounded like he was shying away from bruised or even broken ribs, but Gokudera couldn't find anything wrong by touch, and when would Tsuna have gotten injured like that?

His skin was clammy, but he was covered in sweat. As Gokudera reached up to check his temperature, Tsuna jerked as if he had been struck. It was a miracle the headgear hadn't come off on its own.

Gokudera gritted his teeth in frustration. 'What should I do…?' he wondered.

"Ahodera, is Tsuna-nii… is Tsuna-nii going to be okay?" Lambo asked plaintively. The boy had wedged himself into a small space between the bed and the nightstand, looking up at Gokudera with wide, scared eyes.

"Of course he will," Gokudera snapped. "We're talking about the Boss! He always comes through!"

Except… Except, what if he didn't? This wasn't normal. This wasn't safe. The VR gear was supposed to have buffers and safeties so that the body couldn't be affected like this. Gokudera had always been interested in the technology of it, and he had kept up with all the experiments the users ran to see how it worked. Nothing came even close to this.

'If it gets any worse… I'm pulling him out,' Gokudera decided.

Whatever Tsuna was doing, even if it was for Chrome… They could find another way.

~.~.~

Tsuna coughed heavily, chocking as his throat closed up. He tried to force himself to move, but he couldn't even look up. All he could see were his opponents black boots, coming to stand just within his line of sight, and even that was quickly fading into the black spots overtaking his vision.

The swordsman standing over him clicked his tongue irritably. Tsuna had barely managed to graze him with his Flames, but even that offended Squalo's pride. Even if this was a game, far removed from reality and operating under different rules, the Varia shouldn't be so easily challenged by some brat, no matter how interested the Cervello were in him.

"Well?" Squalo demanded to seemingly nothing but the open air. "We faced him like you wanted. Is this enough?"

"We have gathered sufficient data for this trial," a Cervello announced, stepping out of the shadows. Squalo expertly hid his reaction — like Reborn, the fact that his trained senses could not detect a presence hidden by changing the system mechanics was deeply irritating to him.

He sneered. "Good. Now you better uphold your end," he said, full of threat.

The Cervello inclined her head. "All contracts will be upheld," she stated.

Her partner moved past her to kneel beside Tsuna, who was still stubbornly clinging to the last threads of consciousness. There was something that might have been called kindness in the way she laid a hand on his shoulder and said, "Thank you for your cooperation."

That was the last thing Tsuna heard before he passed out.

~.~.~


	11. Physical

~.~.~

**Title: **Inheritors of Flame**  
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**Last time:** To earn money for an operation to save Chrome's life, Tsuna agreed to participate in the Cervello's research. With the feedback set to equal real life and no barriers, Tsuna's body ended up experienceing physical effects from his marathon battles.

**Notes:** Hey, it's Hibari again. He's so weird. (Also, has weird ways of showing affection… ish feelings.) In any case, keep in mind this is kind of a side project to the Cervello. One case study among numerous ones to try to gather more data.

~.~.~

**Chapter 8: Physical  
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As he finally returned to consciousness, Tsuna shuddered and groaned. His head was pounding nauseatingly, his entire body ached, and every sense seemed turned up far too high. The light, the noise, even the feeling of the sheets against skin drove another spike into his brain.

"Boss? Are you awake?" Gokudera asked, thankfully quieter than his usual over-enthusiasm — tense and worried.

"Wha… What time is it?" Tsuna managed to ask, squinting at the ceiling. It was all a pale, cream-colored blur. There was something else he needed to ask, but…

"It's the middle of the night. 3 am," Gokudera answered. His hands rested on Tsuna's shoulders, keeping him from trying to sit up. "Do you need anything?"

"No… I'm fine…" Tsuna muttered, uncertain.

"Then you should rest," Gokudera said. He hoped that was the right course of action. When the VR system had shut off on its own, he had taken it off, but Tsuna had remained deep in unconsciousness. Gokudera had dithered, caught between letting Tsuna rest and waiting until he woke up, and taking him to get help.

In the end, Gokudera's inherent distrust of hospitals, authority figures, and most adults had made him hesitate and decide to wait. It had already been several hours, but unlike Lambo — curled up on the other bed in exhaustion — Gokudera had remained awake.

"Hospital…" Tsuna remembered finally. "I need to go…"

"I'll call an ambulance," Gokudera said quickly, misunderstanding.

Tsuna caught the edge of his sleeve before he could start dialing. "No, it's not… for me. Chrome…"

Gokudera pursed his lips, but he didn't protest or say, 'Worry about yourself!' like he wanted to. "We can go in the morning. They wouldn't let us in now," he reasoned instead. "For now, you should rest, Boss."

Squinting at him uncertainly, Tsuna finally gave in. He didn't have much choice — he could already feel himself slipping back into unconsciousness.

~.~.~

The next time Tsuna woke up, faint sunlight was filtering in through the closed curtains. He felt a little better, but not much — his head was still pounding, painfully enough to make Tsuna want to throw up, his entire body felt simultaneous sore and somehow raw, and even the faint light was almost blinding.

He groaned and tried to roll over, only to regret it as his entire body spasmed.

"Boss, take it easy," Gokudera's voice came from beside him, thankfully barely above a whisper. His hands were gentle too, as he held down Tsuna's shoulder, checked his temperature and his pulse.

Gokudera hissed something foul under his breath as Tsuna squinted up at him. "What is it? Is Tsuna-nii okay?" Lambo asked, having made his way over from here he had been curled up in the hotel room's only chair. He clung to the back of Gokudera's shirt and peered around him at Tsuna.

"His eyes are completely bloodshot. It's like something ruptured…" Gokudera muttered. "Damn it, maybe we should have gone to the hospital after all…"

Hospital. "I need to… check on Chrome," Tsuna said, frowning and trying to push Gokudera away.

"She's fine. What do you think could've happened to her overnight?" Gokudera scowled.

"Not that," Tsuna insisted muzzily. "Need to make sure they're… keeping their promise."

Who? What promise? What had he done? Gokudera shook his head irritably. There was no point in asking now. He doubted Tsuna would be able to give much of an answer. "You can't even sit up," he pointed out instead. "You won't be able to make it there."

He was right. Tsuna's attempts to lever himself into a sitting position hadn't gone well. The dizziness worsened and his arm trembled, threatening to give out under his weight.

But the look Tsuna shot Gokudera was both stubborn and pitiful. Gokudera crumbled in an instance, realizing that he was either going to have to help his boss, no matter how much he disapproved, or watch him try to crawl there himself.

"You can't even walk," Gokudera still grumbled, even as he helped Tsuna get ready and settled him on his back.

"Sorry," Tsuna murmured into Gokudera's shoulder. "But I have to make sure, that she'll be okay…"

Lambo glanced at them worriedly, holding open the door. Catching his gaze, Gokudera nodded toward the room next to theirs, where Yamamoto and Ryohei were probably still sleeping. Or maybe not, given the ridiculous schedules of the two dedicated sportsmen.

Hitching Tsuna up more securely on his back, Gokudera sighed. "Yeah," he said, in reply, "I know." It was annoying, and frightening, but he supposed that was just how it was. That was what had made him give his loyalty to his boss on the first place.

~.~.~

The nurse from the day before was there again. Her expression became complicated as she caught sight of them, before turning to worry at the fact that Gokudera was carrying Tsuna.

"How's Nagi doing?" Gokudera asked before she could say anything. Better to get it out of the way, or Tsuna would probably try to refuse treatment.

"Oh, it's the strangest thing," the nurse said, wringing her hands. She looked both bemused and hopeful. "Some people arrived late last night and said they would pay for her operation. They're doing the prep right now, so I'm afraid you can't see her…"

Tsuna breathed a warm sigh of relief against Gokudera's shoulder. "That's good. Then, they're really keeping their end," he mumbled. Tension seeped out of him, and he sagged bonelessly against Gokudera. Another shudder went through his body, an involuntary spasm like several more during their trip to the hospital.

The nurse was looking at them with worry again, and Gokudera couldn't blame her. Something was clearly not right. "Is your friend…" she began to say.

She trailed off, distracted, as a strange group approached them — two dark skinned, seemingly identical women, and a man in a lab coat, with an air that screamed "back alley doctor" to Gokudera.

"We will conduct a follow up examination," one of the Cervello — because she couldn't be anything else — said to Gokudera, or maybe to Tsuna.

"Please come this way," the other directed.

Gokudera's eyes narrowed and he had to bite back a growl of suspicion. He wasn't stupid; he could do the math — the reason Tsuna had ended up in that shape, the reason the VR system had done something outside its parameters, the reason Chrome's operation was suddenly paid for…

"It's okay, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna said quietly. "They kept their side. So it's okay."

It was not okay, at all.

~.~.~

The doctor the Cervello had examine Tsuna spouted off a series of long, technical observations, which went completely over Tsuna's admittedly addled head and made Gokudera's frown grow even deeper. But in the end, the shady man had declared that there was no permanent damage and Tsuna would recover with time and rest.

After all, Tsuna hadn't actually been in several life or death battles, and he hadn't been injured, no matter what his mind seemed to believe. The only thing actually wrong with him was Flame depletion. The rest was fundamentally all just in his head. Supposedly.

Gokudera had looked less than pleased with that diagnosis, but he had also clearly wanted to get Tsuna away from the Cervello, so he accepted it in the end. The rest of the day was a blur to Tsuna, who drifted off several times — in between, he had a faint memory of Gokudera telling Yamamoto and Ryohei that he had come down with food poisoning.

Chrome would be in surgery for hours and in recovery for days afterwards, so they wouldn't be able to check if it went successfully, since all of them needed to return home. Tsuna supposed it was unlikely that the Cervello would back out after holding up their end of the deal thus far. Still, he managed to convince the same nurse who had helped them before to pass on his contact info to Chrome, to get in touch with him once she was well enough.

Fortunately, Nana also easily accepted Gokudera's food poisoning story, upon their return to Namimori, and let Tsuna stay home, even as classes resumed.

Unfortunately, being confined to his room to rest turned out to be terribly boring, since Gokudera also gave his VR gear to Lambo for safekeeping.

It didn't help that Tsuna still hasn't recovered entirely. He had tried to entertain himself by reading some of his manga collection, only to give up within a few pages once the kanji began to swim across the page illegibly and his head started pounding with renewed vigor.

With nothing left to do but stare up at his ceiling and think, Tsuna found himself worrying pointlessly. He hoped Gokudera wouldn't cause a fuss at school — no doubt their classmates would have plenty of uncharitable things to say about Tsuna skipping again, and Gokudera had a bit of a temper problem. He hoped Yamamoto and Ryohei had made it home safely and weren't too freaked out about everything. He hoped Chrome would recover — operations were always dangerous…

Sighing, Tsuna tried to clear his mind. Maybe some more sleep would help him recover faster—

His bedroom window suddenly opened, making Tsuna screech in surprise and tumble off the bed.

When he looked up, wincing, Tsuna could only pale in terror. There, crouched on his windowsill was Hibari Kyoya himself, looking as imperious and menacing as always. This time, he was apparently not willing to wait until Tsuna felt like showing his face at school again.

"You are truant again, herbivore," Hibari stated, his eyes narrowing. Surprisingly, he didn't immediately attack. His expression grew more displeased as he noted the cautious way Tsuna was moving and how he winced, holding his head. "Were you in a fight?" he demanded abruptly. "That is against the rules."

"N-no! It's just… game stuff again," Tsuna assured him quickly.

But if anything, Hibari just looked more dubious and dissatisfied. "That game put you in this condition?" he said, frowning.

Crouching down, he peered at Tsuna — no doubt noting his still somewhat bloodshot eyes and the way he held himself rather gingerly. To make it worse, Tsuna's hand spasmed again at this point, adding to Hibari's suspicions. The prefect's expression didn't give away much, but he seemed to come to a decision.

"New rule," Hibari declared, straightening and looking around Tsuna's room, "that 'game' is prohibited."

"What?! You can't do that!" Tsuna blurted out, after a moment of stunned incomprehension.

Hibari shot him a look that said clearly, 'Watch me.' If Hibari declared a new law, then there was a new law, apparently. Hibari was a law onto himself.

"But why?" Tsuna wondered helplessly. "Are, are a lot of people missing school because of the VR system?" He certainly hoped not. Even the Cervello had limits to what they could cover up, right?

Judging by Hibari's frown, that wasn't the case anyway.

"If it's just me, then there's no need to ban it altogether, right?" Tsuna reasoned desperately. "I'm sorry I missed school. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again, so—"

"Then I will prohibit only you from playing that game," Hibari decided. That was not the victory Tsuna had been hoping for. At that point, Tsuna finally realized that Hibari was giving his computer the stink eye because he was trying to figure out if it was part of the VR system — which he planned to confiscate, if not destroy.

"It's not here," Tsuba said quickly, before Hibari decided to stick a tonfa through his computer just to be sure. "Gokudera took it." And gave it to Lambo, but Tsuna wasn't about to tell him that.

Hibari studied Tsuna for a moment, trying to gauge his truthfulness. Fortunately, whether or not he could smell lies like the rumors said, Hibari couldn't smell half-truths. "I won't allow any disobedience in Namimori," he finally declared. So Tsuna had better not try to weasel his way out, went unspoken.

Tsuna smiled nervously and kept the expression fixedly on his face until Hibari disappeared out the window, the way he had come. Then, he slumped over bonelessly and tried to smother himself with his pillow.

~.~.~

Gokudera dropped by after school let out, at which point Tsuna relayed the entire encounter, along with some opinions he hadn't dared voice to Hibari's face.

"Can you believe it? Telling me not to play IoF anymore? Just because I missed a bit of school!" Tsuna complained. "Why's he so obsessed with Nami-Middle anyway? I can't believe he hunts down every student who misses a few days. Doesn't he have classes to go to? That hypocrite!"

But unlike usual, Gokudera didn't join in with his own indignation or back Tsuna up. He had been uncharacteristically quiet since arriving — ever since their second day visiting Chrome, actually, though Tsuna hadn't noticed it before.

"To be honest," Gokudera said, taking a deep breath, "I agree with him."

It took Tsuna a moment to understand what he had heard. "W-what? Why?" he demanded.

"Why do you think? Because you ended up like this!" Gokudera burst out. "And before that, with Rokudo Mukuro! It's not safe! It's dangerous! That's why it's better if you just stop playing completely!"

"Those are two different things!" Tsuna protested.

"No, they're not," Gokudera said sharply. "I always ignored it, but this whole thing is suspicious! Cervello Inc. shouldn't even exist. It appeared out of nowhere. And where did the VR technology come from? Even if it's some sudden breakthrough, there's nothing else even close to it. No one can tell how it was made, or how it works. Nothing about it makes sense. Everything about this is weird!"

He was right, there was something suspicious about the whole setup. Even Tsuna could tell that much. But still…

"What about the guild?" Tsuna asked instead. "I can't just leave everyone hanging or, or just disband it!"

"Maybe it's better if you did," Gokudera muttered. He didn't wait for a response, stalking out of the room while Tsuna stared in shock.

~.~.~

"What do you mean, he took it with him?" Tsuna hissed.

Lambo rolled his eyes. "I mean he took it with him!" he repeated impatiently. "Octopus head took your VR gear with him when he left. And before you ask, mine too, so you can't borrow it."

"And you let him?!"

"Yeah, I did," Lambo said. The look he shot Tsuna made any further protests fall silent. It was a hurt, worried expression that didn't look right on a boisterous, confident kid like Lambo. "You don't get it, Tsuna-nii. We were so scared. You… you were getting hurt! And we didn't even know why! It's dangerous. I'd rather we stop playing, too."

"You, you would? But what about the guild?" Tsuna asked, feeling a stab of guilt at Lambo's words. He hadn't really considered how it must have been to them, waiting helplessly in the real world.

"I was just being selfish. I didn't want to end up alone again," Lambo said, pouting a little. "But we've all met in real life now. You even have Ryo and Shigure's numbers, right? We don't need IoF to be friends anymore. Besides, Mama's going to enroll me in school here. I'm not going to have time to play around."

'You mean lay around,' Tsuna thought, smiling a little.

It was just an excuse — they all had school, a lot more of it than Lambo — but Tsuna was glad to hear that Lambo wasn't going to spend all his time in IoF or at the house anymore. It wasn't good for a kid, even Tsuna realized that.

'I guess everyone has real lives to think about,' Tsuna thought, a little glumly. Yamamoto and Ryohei had their clubs, Nagi would need to settle back into normal life too, and Hibari would have Tsuna's head if he kept missing school. Maybe… maybe it was for the best.

It was a sad thought, but it didn't leave him cold the way it used to. Because he had Gokudera and Lambo now, he supposed.

Tsuna sighed. "Right," he muttered. "I better apologize to Gokudera. I really scared him, huh?"

"Bring me back some takoyaki," Lambo said.

~.~.~

The suspicious, sullen look Gokudera shot him through the narrow opening of his apartment door was rather reminiscent of their first meeting.

"I come in peace?" Tsuna offered. The joke was not appreciated. Fine then, he decided. Rather monotonously, he announced to the empty air, "Ah, I really don't feel well. Walking all the way here was so tiring. I think I might pass out. Right here, on the cold, hard…"

The door opened.

Even after hastily settling Tsuna on the cheap mattress that served as his bed — there were no chairs — Gokudera didn't look any more inviting.

Crossing his arms, he declared, "I'm not giving it back."

"Okay," Tsuna said.

Gokudera gaped, but Tsuna had thought about it carefully. No matter how you looked at it, it was better if he didn't use VR in the near future. Not only would Hibari very likely hunt him down if he did, but there was also the danger of side effects of some sort. Better to wait a while, until both Hibari and Gokudera cooled off and forgot about their disapproval. And maybe the Cervello forgot about their interest in Tsuna too.

"But we have to decide what to do about the guild," Tsuna continued. "I promised I would always keep Minamoto safe, so—"

Gokudera had started frowning again. "Why can't you just leave it to the rest of us?" he demanded. "Why does it have to be you? Why are you always trying to do everything by yourself? Why don't you trust me — trust us — enough to rely on us?!"

"I do trust you!" Tsuna protested.

"Then why didn't you let us help?!" Gokudera shot back. "We could've found a way to help her together! That stupid cow and I could've figured out another way to get the money! I could've even asked that pervert doctor to help, if it came to that! But you didn't even ask if we knew another way! You just went off on your own, trying to do it all yourself!"

He was right. Tsuna winced, realizing he really hadn't even stopped to ask if they knew another way to help Chrome. "It's my job as the guild master…" he offered weakly.

"It's our job as your guildmates," Gokudera countered. "That's what a guild is, right? Players working together. We're all in this together… aren't we?"

Tsuna sighed, then smiled ruefully. "Yeah," he admitted. "I'm sorry. I was being pretty stupid, wasn't I?"

"W-well… No! Of course not!" Gokudera said quickly. "Boss, you're anything but that!"

Apparently, that was all it took for Tsuna to be forgiven. He was glad, of course. He had never had friends close enough to worry about fighting with them, and Tsuna had worried more than he'd shown about how and if he and Gokudera would be able to make up.

But this way, it felt too easy. Tsuna had made Gokudera and the others worry that much, and he felt he had to at least prove a little that he understood now that he could rely on them

As Gokudera seemed about to reel off a list of Tsuna's imagined virtues, again, his boss just shook his head and pulled out his cell phone. Scrolling through the menus of the IoF app, Tsuna quickly tapped out a command. He hesitated for a moment, taking a deep breath, then pressed the "_Confirm_" icon.

A moment later, Gokudera's cell phone beeped, making him scramble to pull it out. Opening the message, he stared, speechless.

"Gokudera-kun, no, C-san," Tsuna said, smiling, "I'm leaving the guild in your hands. Will you accept?"

It was a request to transfer ownership of their guild, making Gokudera the new guild master. In a way, it was only natural. He was one of the founding members, and had been there from the start. He was already Tsuna's second in command.

Still, it was a show of trust. Tsuna trusted him, with their guild, with their city, with their self-imposed mission.

"Yes! I'll accept! I'll gladly accept!" Gokudera burst out, starry-eyed. "I won't let you down, Boss!"

"…You have to click the _Yes_ button," Tsuna reminded him after a moment.

~.~.~

'I swear, I won't let you down, Boss. I'll make sure our town stays the most peaceful, friendly, safe place in the game!' Gokudera thought fiercely.

The others, flakes that they were, had refused to join him in patrolling Minamoto City. They had pointed out — correctly, actually, though Gokudera ignored them — that trouble requiring their intervention was very rare and the city mostly ran itself. Clearly, they didn't understand the importance of the mission they had been entrusted with.

As Gokudera swept his piercing gaze across the busy main shopping street of Minamoto, the unfortunate newbie players cowered from what looked distinctly like an evil glare. Gokudera growled under his breath, wondering which of them was secretly a budding thief or bully. The poor newbies trembled and scurried past.

The owner of the shop he was standing next to finally lost her patience and stormed outside. "Enough already!" she yelled, poking him sharply in the chest. "You're ruining my business! Go somewhere else, will you! Or I'm telling Ieyasu-san!"

"What are you babbling about, you dumb girl! I'm keeping the peace!" Gokudera protested.

"Haru is not a dumb girl!" the shopkeeper hissed. "And you're the biggest threat to the peace here!"

Haru-Haru, or just Haru for short, had been in Minamoto almost as long as Tsuna and Gokudera. In fact, she had been the first person their guild helped. In gratitude, she had crafted Tsuna's first cape, according to his specifications — secretly based on what the real Ieyasu had worn. It had been very low-level, of course, and eventually destroyed, but she had also created every cape afterwards, including the one Tsuna currently used, which was a unique Inheritance level item.

Her specialty, however, was costumes, like the magical girl outfit she was currently wearing.

The only thing Haru and Gokudera agreed on was their adoration of Tsuna. Everything else inevitably dissolved into a ridiculous argument.

Gokudera was about to shoot something back, only to find himself distracted — catching sight of a solitary figure in black out of the corner of his eye. The man was making his way down the street casually, but he still stood out somehow. He was certainly too high level for the beginner area, but more than that, the way he carried himself made Gokudera tense instinctively.

When the man glanced in Gokudera's direction, he didn't need to check his ID tag to know who he was. Leon, the one who had defeated Tsuna a few months back.

Even though Tsuna said that they became friends and insisted that "Leon" always helped him, Gokudera couldn't stop his hackles from rising at the sight of the man. He would have stalked over to him, if the other hadn't already started toward where Gokudera and Haru were standing.

"So you're Leon," Haru spoke up first. She was smiling, open and friendly. "You're just like Ieyasu-san described. Did you like the costume he commissioned for you? Haru was the one who made it!"

Reborn smiled as well, but far less happily. "Oh, yes," he said, even though the answer was clearly the opposite. "It was a very… thoughtful gift."

There was definitely some kind of inside joke at work here, but Gokudera had no patience to try to figure it out. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, ignoring Haru's annoyed pout.

"Looking for you," Reborn replied just as curtly. "I saw that the guild listing changed, but the message I got from Ieyasu was basically useless. I want to know what's going on." 'And you're going to tell me,' went unsaid.

Haru glanced between them in confusion, before focusing on Gokudera's player info. "Hahi! You're the guild master now?" she blurted out, finally noticing the change in his profile. "But what happened to Ieyasu-san?"

"He's fine. He just can't play for a while, so he left it to me," Gokudera said. To Reborn, he jerked his head toward the street, indicating they would talk elsewhere.

"Hmm," Haru let out, unconvinced. "Well, wish him good luck for me. When he gets back, I'll make him a special new outfit!"

"I think I have a suggestion for that," Reborn spoke up. "I'm sure he'll love it, and you're just the right person to bring it to life." And Tsuna wouldn't be able to refuse wearing it at least once, if it was a present from a girl.

Haru gave him a thumbs up. Revenge would be sweet, Reborn thought, for that terrible, terrible joke of a costume. Clown, ballerina, mostly naked cupid, Reborn could handle. But the pre-schooler outfit Tsuna had sent him had struck an unfortunate cord, and even though Tsuna had no way of knowing it, he was going to to have to pay for it dearly.

~.~.~

Gokudera led the way to the abandoned shrine area that bordered Minamoto City. He had stalked through the town in tense silence, but once they reached the top of the stairs to the shrine complex, the most deserted area in Minamoto, he spun around to glare at Reborn.

"What do you want from Tsuna-sama?" Gokudera demanded.

It was probably supposed to be intimidating, but to Reborn his glare was just kind of cute. If Gokudera had known "Leon's" true identity, he wouldn't have dared to act to brazenly.

"What's it to you? It's our private business," Reborn said, crossing his arms and shifting his weight into a casual slouch.

"You expect me to believe that you, what, just want to be buddies with an ordinary teenager, when you're some mafia big shot?" Gokudera snorted scornfully. "I won't let you drag Tsuna-sama into that world!"

"I have no interest in doing so," Reborn said, quite honestly. "Believe it or not, it's just hard to find strong players to party with. Who else am I going to take to conquer a Hell Hole?"

That brought Gokudera up short. "You… you conquered a Hell Hole? With Tsuna-sama?"

"The White Tower. It was before summer. Before you moved to his town," Reborn said. "He's useful. That's all."

Gokudera was only half listening. 'Why didn't Boss tell me?' he wondered. 'It must have been while we were all busy, that time… He didn't want us to feel bad? That's why he refused when that sword idiot offered…'

It didn't really bother him that much. Since he and Tsuna had been in different time zones and on different schedules for most of their friendship, there were naturally times when they ended up playing with others or accomplishing quests, even major ones, without the rest of the guild. But…

'Reaching Over Rank, conquering a Hell Hole… Even beating Rokudo Mukuro's trap. No wonder the Cervello are interested in Boss,' Gokudera thought. 'Just how far ahead of all of us is he? And how can I ever catch up?'

Letting Gokudera stew in his thoughts for a while, Reborn finally returned to his original goal. "So what happened to him?" he asked again. "I can't believe he'd just stop playing for an ordinary reason. He loves this world too much."

Gokudera's mouth twisted unhappily as he warred with himself. "…You're pretty high up, aren't you?" he asked rhetorically. "What do you know about the Cervello?"

'So it really is that,' Reborn thought. Well, it seemed it was time for a bit of give and take. "They're a secret society that has existed since before even the mafia first appeared," he said. "They are supporting the VR research behind IoF in order to learn more about Flames." Or perhaps some other agenda, but Reborn thought that going into the entire Trinisette issue would complicate things needlessly.

"Secret society…?" Gokudera repeated, his expression momentarily lighting up with excitement, before he got a hold of himself. "So things like that really exist? And research into Flames… Then Over Rank must be… That must be why…"

Bianchi hadn't been exaggerating when she said her brother was brilliant. He easily made several connections, even if he was missing a lot of information. Glancing at Reborn unhappily, Gokudera relented.

"There was… an issue with one of our guild members, and to help them, Tsuna-sama agreed to take part in some experiment for the admins," he said. "They set the feedback modifiers to zero, and… it ended up affecting his real body. He's recovering, but we thought it might better if he stayed away from here for a while."

That was about all the information Gokudera had. Tsuna hadn't told him much, though Gokudera had his own speculations, regarding what the Cervello had been after — most likely, they had aimed to put Tsuna, and his rare Over Rank Flames, in the closest replica of a life or death situation they could create and observe how his Flames responded. After all, it was in those kinds of settings that made Dying Will Flames manifest most strongly in real life.

'Affected his real body? That stupid brat, I told him not to listen to them,' Reborn thought, frowning. What kind of issue would make him agree to something so stupid and dangerous? And why hadn't he at least asked Reborn for advice?

It was too late to worry about that, so Reborn pushed the useless thoughts aside. It seemed Tsuna was alright, in any case, or his guildmate would be far more worked up.

"Well, you're probably right. Taking a break for IoF might be the best idea," Reborn said. And in the meantime, he could decide whether to make clear to Verde that some things weren't acceptable even in the name of his "research."

"Yeah, so I guess Tsuna-sama won't be of any use to you for a while," Gokudera said bitingly.

Reborn smirked, regaining enough good humor to find Gokudera's protectiveness amusing. "I'm going to be taking a bit of a break myself. Mafia bigshot business, you see," he said, shrugging. Or rather, he had received a summons from Nono, and the Vongola boss never called him for quick, easy jobs.

'Speaking of which… I'm already cutting it close,' he admitted to himself. He should have headed out hours ago, but the PM from Tsuna had distracted him just as he was about to leave. Not that Reborn couldn't still manage…

"Chaos," he told Gokudera as a farewell, lightly tipping the edge of his fedora. "Tell Ieyasu my invitation is still open when he gets back. That Hell Hole was pretty amusing, and I wouldn't mind taking down another one."

Gokudera made a rude gesture at his back. Just for that, he'd tell Bianchi all about what her brother had been up to, Reborn decided.

~.~.~

"It's about time," Gokudera said, scowling at three other members of his guild, who had finally assembled in the main room of the guildhall. "Took you long enough! Are you taking this seriously at all?"

"Now, now, you shouldn't get so worked up, Guild Master," Yamamoto said, laughing lightly. "We're not that kind of guild. Ieyasu always let us have our own time. We came, didn't we?"

"That's right, Octopus head," Ryohei agreed. "He would want everyone to enjoy themselves to the extreme."

"What do you want, anyway?" Lambo wondered, opening one eye to look at him lazily. "I told you, there's no way I'm going patrolling. That's so stupid."

Gokudera's scowl grew more unhappy. "Pathetic!" he snapped. "You're all so carefree! It's because we're Boss's guild that we have to take it more seriously! While we were all messing around, Boss reached Over Rank! He even cleared a Hell Hole! At this rate, we're going to fall behind and end up a disgrace to Boss!"

Or rather, they would just get left behind. If the admins were only interested in exceptional players, then they would all need to become exceptional too, to stand beside Tsuna the next time the Cervello came looking for him. They needed to become strong enough to support him properly.

And Gokudera had an idea how to get there.

"Ieyasu cleared a Hell Hole?" Yamamoto repeated. His usual smile had slipped off his face, leaving behind a tense, worried expression. "Without us?"

"That's right," Gokudera said. "And that's why we have to catch up to him. So we're going to do the same! Our guild is going to conquer one of the ultimate dungeons!"

"Wait, are you suggesting we do a four-man raid on one if the Hell Holes?" Lambo said incredulously.

"I'm not suggesting. It's an order!" Gokudera declared.

"Sounds like an extreme challenge!" Ryohei decided. "I'm in!"

"Yeah, it'll be fun. It's been a while since we played together," Yamamoto agreed, his smile returning.

'That's because you don't remember the last time we tried,' Lambo thought. He still felt cold when he thought about that mist and what had happened inside. Exchanging a glance with Gokudera, Lambo knew he was thinking the same thing. 'Tsuna-nii saved us then… We were totally useless, weren't we? That's why we have to get stronger, huh?'

"Fine, I guess I'll come too," Lambo said, huffing.

Gokudera smirked. This guild master thing wasn't so tough after all.

~.~.~

"Kyoko! I can't go with you and Hana this weekend," Ryohei declared over dinner. "I'm going to be extremely busy!" He immediately continued to shovel curry rice into his mouth and chew at an amazing pace, having paused only long enough to speak.

"That's okay, Onii-chan," Kyoko assured him, fortunately unperturbed by the spectacle of Ryohei singlehandedly demolishing a meal for five. "Is the Boxing Club having training again?"

Swallowing down the food that had been stuffed into his bulging cheeks, Ryohei made a disparaging sound. "Those guys are not extreme at all!" he complained. "They almost never train, and the captain said they don't like to go to tournaments either! What kind of Boxing Club is that?"

And since he was just a first year at the high school, no one listened to him when he tried to insist on them changing their ways. Kyoko nodded sympathetically, though she wasn't exactly surprised. The middle school boxing club had all but chased Ryohei out for the same reason — no one could handle his extreme training regiment and dedication to the sport. No one had been particularly willing to try.

"No, I'm meeting with my guild, and we're going to a dungeon," Ryohei added. "It's going to be an extreme weekend!"

"The VR game again," Kyoko murmured. "You play that almost as much you train. Is it really that fun? N-not that there's anything wrong with that! I just didn't think you could like something else as much as boxing…"

"I box there too," Ryohei said. "I've had some extreme duels there!"

"But isn't that all just pretend? It's just a game, not like a tournament or anything like that," Kyoko said. "You're always so serous about it."

"I'm always serious! I do everything to the extreme!" Ryohei said, polishing off the rest of the curry rice. "But you're wrong, Kyoko. It's not just a game. I met some extreme guys there, and had extreme adventures with them. I'm sure… it's a place where you can become strong to the extreme."

He clenched his fist, remembering the feeling of his own yellow Flames, the way his body resonated with that power, and the exhilaration he had felt on their adventures together, pushed to their limits and beyond. It was real — more real than even a tournament. Without realizing, Ryohei grinned widely.

He was looking forward to their next adventure.

Silently, Kyoko began to clear away the dishes, all the while glancing at her brother and his focused, fired up expression. She was happy that he was happy, but… Just what kind of place was it, that made him so dedicated to it?

~.~.~


	12. Encounter

~.~.~

**Title: **Inheritors of Flame**  
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**Last time:** After suffering physical aftereffects from the Cervello's experiment, Tsuna was forbidden from the using the VR gear any further. Fortunately, there was no permanent damage, and Chrome's operation was successfully carried out.

**Notes:** I messed up the titles last time, whoops!

~.~.~

**Chapter 9: Encounter  
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Gokudera had never held much respect for school, and Tsuna suspected that the only reason he even bothered attending in the first place was because Tsuna himself did. Even despite apparently dropping out several years prior, Gokudera aced every assignment and test, to the teachers' frustration, and remained visibly bored with the material being covered.

However, he had never before been quite as impatient to be finished with classes. All through the Saturday half-day of school, Gokudera had fidgeted and tapped his foot, glancing at his cellphone intermittently. The moment the last bell rang, he was on his feet.

"Sorry, Boss, I've got to go!" he called over his shoulder, already hurrying to the door. "See you Monday!"

"O…kay, see you," Tsuna said slowly, his guildmate long gone. He blinked in confusion, then shook his head. He wasn't going to ask — and tried not to think that the last time Gokudera had acted this fishy, he'd proven his stalker credentials by crossing two continents and a sea to show up at Tsuna's school unannounced.

The walk home felt a bit lonely. It had been months since Tsuna hadn't gone with Gokudera or split up with him just to rush home and enter IoF. Looking up at the sky, Tsuna sighed. Maybe he'd start on his homework…

"Mom, Lambo! I'm home!" Tsuna called out, letting himself in and slipping off his shoes.

"Welcome back, Tsu-kun!" Nana called back. "Oh, but Lambo-chan said he's going out for the weekend. I hope he has fun." She seemed unconcerned with the idea of a seven year old going off on his own without even telling her where.

Tsuna paused, a suspicion beginning to form.

Lambo had said he planned to start school, but he hadn't so far, and he never really went outside on his own either. Tsuna would have been surprised if Lambo even knew anyone else in Namimori. So where would he go for the weekend?

Combined with Gokudera's behavior, the simplest, most likely answer was that the two of them were doing something in IoF, from Gokudera's apartment, and trying to hide it from Tsuna.

Tsuna sighed. 'Not like there's anything I can do about it,' he thought. 'They'll tell me when they're ready… hopefully.'

Trudging up to his room, Tsuna sprawled listlessly across the bed. He blindly groped for his cellphone and held it up. There were no messages, from anyone. Sighing again, Tsuna let his arm drop.

'I wonder what they're doing? Are Ryo and Shigure with Gokudera-kun and Lambo? Are they doing a quest?' Tsuna thought. 'What about Chrome? How is she doing? And Leon-san?'

Wiggling a little, he pulled the blanket free and curled up under it. Even though it was still only just past noon, he couldn't find the motivation to get up.

'…I want to see them,' Tsuna admitted to himself. 'I want to be with everyone in that world again. I wish I was there…'

His eyes slid shut, and without meaning to, he drifted off into sleep.

~.~.~

It wasn't surprising that he'd dream of IoF, when he had been thinking about it so much. Ephemeral and distant, he imagined himself in the familiar corridors of their guildhall.

The underground structure was supposedly a former bomb shelter, which had been used by the people of Minamoto to survive the many natural disasters brought about by the discovery and use of Box Technology. But after the people once again moved topside, it had been left behind and forgotten.

The complex maze of tunnels, stretching beneath the city, on several levels, and extending entrances to four surrounding areas, had always been too big for Tsuna's small guild to fill. But it had never felt so empty and deserted.

'Where are you guys?' Tsuna wondered. He had been thoughtlessly moving through the corridors, drifting like a ghost, but he began to move more purposefully, noting the sign at the corner that showed he was near the infirmary.

The next step he took echoed down the hallway, making Tsuna jump in surprise. Sound had been absent before, but somehow the dream was becoming more… realistic, the scenery around him sharper and in focus, the air even gaining the faint scent of having cycled through the circulation system.

'Still no BGM though,' Tsuna noted with a smile. 'But maybe now everyone will appear too…'

He closed his eyes, trying to imagine his friends standing beside him, or just coming down the hall. He would be able to hear them first, arguing again in that way they had — Gokudera trying to get everyone organized, Yamamoto teasing him, Ryohei completely missing the point, Lambo chiming in with his own jabs, and…

"…set out already! We're wasting time!"

"Maa, maa, it's not like dungeon's going to run away…"

"Besides, you're the one that wouldn't let us just go, Octopus head!"

'Huh?' Tsuna opened his eyes, surprised to actually hear their voices, echoing through the base. But… weren't those voices growing fainter and moving away?

"Wait! Don't leave!" Tsuna called out, taking off at a dead sprint before he even had a chance to think about it. He skidded around a corner, only to quickly about face and race the other way as he realized the voices weren't coming from the main meeting room but from the direction of one of the exits to the surface.

However, when Tsuna burst into the entryway, leading up to a dark stairwell, there was no one there.

His shoulders drooped, and he hung his head with a heavy sigh. "What's the point of this stupid dream if I can't even see them?" Tsuna grumbled. "I might as well just wake up…"

But since the useless dream looked so much like IoF, instinctively he made the swiping motion of opening his menu to log out instead.

And just like that, the menu appeared.

Tsuna stared at it dumbly. It looked a lot like his menu in IoF — almost identical… except for that fact that his character type being listed as "Other."

"….Hiiiiieeeeee!"

~.~.~

After some panicking and flailing, Tsuna managed to calm himself and think logically, or at least reasonably.

So. He went to sleep and… ended up in IoF in his dreams. Since he hadn't logged on properly, it was only natural that he didn't register as a Player, and not being an NPC, he simply became an Other — an unregistered, unquantifiable presence in the system.

It wasn't, Tsuna told himself, that weird. Really. And it certainly wasn't impossible. He'd met Ieyasu-san, a ghost, in IoF. Not to mention, Rokudo Mukuro, who, according to Gokudera, was supposed to be in prison and far from any VR gear.

Could the other Over Rank do this too? Or was it something that only happened to Tsuna?

Which brought him to another point. Should he contact the administrators?

Remembering the dark, cold training field, Tsuna shivered. For Chrome's sake, he could deal with Cervello's experiments, but he didn't want to go through something like that again. Maybe if he ended up being unable to wake up and ran out of options… But not before.

It seemed he was still using his usual character account, since even his inventory was intact. However, that didn't mean that everything was working perfectly.

When Tsuna tried to leave through one of the city-side exits, the usual "_Exit guild hall?_" message failed to appear as he stood at the foot of the staircase.

Feeling slightly apprehensive, Tsuna started to climb the stairs, which disappeared into the usual unrendered darkness. Maybe he could just walk to the door?

Except that didn't happen. As he climbed up into the shadows, nothing else appeared. Even the metallic sound of his footsteps faded out until Tsuna was left in a complete void, just making the motions of climbing up nonexistent stairs.

He firmly told himself not to panic. It wasn't any different from the time he fell into the Abyss. In fact, it appeared very similar. Remembering the comforting weight of Ieyasu-san's hand on his shoulder, Tsuna forced himself to think. What had Ieyasu-san said back then?

'I just need to imagine myself where I want to go,' Tsuna reminded himself. And he could picture it clearly — the other side of the guildhall entrance, the worn door of the shelter stairway, the always deserted back alley in Minamoto…

There was a moment of in-between, which he now recognized as being the same as just before he appeared in the guildhall in the first place — then Tsuna opened his eyes to find himself standing as he had imagined at the town side entrance.

~.~.~

Once he was topside, Tsuna decided to try looking around town first. It wasn't like he was in a hurry. No one would come looking for him, after all.

Seeing "their" town helped reassure him. Although it had changed over the two and some years Tsuna had been playing, the starting town had remained largely the same in many other ways. The atmosphere still held the same sense of wonder and newbie confusion that Tsuna remembered from his own early days.

Tsuna had to smile as he watched a group of new players pass by, deep in a discussion about the Flame types' properties — what was the difference between Propagation and Activation? They were both attack buffs, right? It was tempting to step up and tell them, but Tsuna let them be. They'd figure it out on their own.

'Looks like everything is peaceful,' Tsuna thought. 'That's good… Not that I was doubting Gokudera-kun and the others!'

Except… It seemed he spoke too soon. Some instinct drew his gaze to another group of players huddled together off to one side of the main street. As Tsuna watched them, an uneasy feeling at the back of his mind, cursors with their info popped up over each one — and suddenly, the problem was clear.

They were all male players at the upper limit of Minamoto's target range, if not a bit above it. The only exception was the girl in the center of the group, the one they were crowding around. Her level was 0, in other words someone who had literally just logged in for the first time and had not even completed the intro tutorials yet.

Tsuna sighed, annoyed, as he understood what was going on.

"Come on, it'll be fun," one of the male players was cajoling as he looked over the girl. "We'll take good care of you, show you the ropes…"

"Um, thank you, but I'm not really…" the girl tried to say. Her avatar was about Tsuna's real age, with a cute, sweet face and long orange hair.

"It'll be tough for a newbie like you, all by yourself," another of the more experienced players insisted. "And we could use another healer, especially a cute one like you. Come on!" She was, indeed, a Sun type primary.

Of course, they were blatantly lying. There wasn't anything in the Minamoto area that could be much of a threat to a group with their level, and even though Sun Flames were about the only way to use "healing" on others, those particular skills were all advanced and far beyond a newbie. They probably just wanted a pretty girl in their party.

"Come on, join our party…" the other players were pressing.

"If you're having trouble, I'll be happy to join and help you out," Tsuna spoke up from behind their group. As they turned, already sneering, he smiled pleasantly and added, with no trace of honesty, "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear."

The leader of the party opened his mouth, no doubt to tell Tsuna to get lost, only to freeze when he finally noticed Tsuna's own ID cursor — his level, high enough to take them all on singlehandedly, his Over Rank number "X" or maybe even his name, as the former guild leader for the area.

"N-no, on second thought we'll be fine," the party leader said quickly. "In fact, we better get going, right, guys?"

One of the players slower on the uptake tried to protest, only to get elbowed quickly. Muttering nervous agreements, they shuffled away, while Tsuna watched and continued to smile. If they tried something like that again, the guild might have to step in and have a talk with them, but for now he'd let it go.

"U-um, thank you," the girl said, once they were left alone.

"It's nothing," Tsuna said, offering her a much warmer smile. "Sorry you got off to such a bad start here. How about I help you with the intro tutorials, to make up for it?"

"Really? That would be great!" the girl said, brightening.

"By the way, I'm Ieyasu," he introduced himself, turning to lead the way.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kyoko."

~.~.~

It turned out Kyoko had finished her character creation and logged on for the first time only minutes before those players had approached her.

"So you haven't done any of the tutorials yet," Tsuna surmised. That was why her level was still only 0, meaning she wasn't ready to go out of the town at all. "The first thing to do is go to the town hall. You can get the rest of your account set up there. Come on, it's this way."

"Thank you. I really appreciate it," Kyoko repeated, smiling brightly at him.

She was really cute. This… was probably the point where Dame-Tsuna would trip or do something embarrassing. Or rather, a cute girl wouldn't talk to Dame-Tsuna in the first place…

Tsuna almost stumbled at the realization, darting a glance at Kyoko. 'Right now, I'm Ieyasu,' he told himself sternly. 'So don't get all tongue tied! Pull it together!'

"S-so you just started playing?" Tsuna blurted out. The answer was completely obvious, and it was a stupid thing to say.

"Yes, just now," Kyoko said. She put a finger to her chin in thought. "There was someone else there when I arrived, and she was telling me… welcome to the town, I think? And to go somewhere…? But then those guys interrupted, and I didn't catch the rest."

"That was an NPC. Yeah, I think there's one that welcomes you to Minamoto — and to the game," Tsuna said, thinking back. This was fortunately much safer ground for him. "That's a Non-Playable Character. Basically, it looks like a person, but it's actually a computer program. Those guys probably dismissed the welcome NPC, but she would have told you to go to the town hall. It's right over here."

It was just a short walk to the town hall from the initial spawn point to the town hall, which was one of the largest buildings in Minamoto. Tsuna held open the door for Kyoko, who gave him another smile.

Leading the way to the front desk, he told the receptionist, "We need to see the mayor. She's new here," he said, gesturing to Kyoko.

"Right away!" the NPC woman behind the counter replied, immediately catching Tsuna's cue. However, she made no further motions, simply turning away from them and resumed her idle animation.

"Um… Is she a program too?" Kyoko asked quietly, as they waited.

"Yeah, but don't worry. Just talk normally, and the system will probably figure out what you need. It's pretty good about things like that," Tsuna said.

Both of them turned as a man approached them, his ID tag reading simple "Minamoto Mayor." He smiled widely at them both and said, "I heard we have a new arrival. Welcome! We're glad to have you with us!"

"Y-yes! That's me!" Kyoko spoke up. "I'm Kyoko!"

The mayor nodded. "It must have been quite a surprise when your Flames awakened! But don't worry. It's just a mark that you are one of the Inheritors of the ancient race. A world of adventure and wonder awaits you!" he reeled off the set dialogue. "Do you know about Flames and the ancient ones?"

"Um, no?" Kyoko guessed, glancing at Tsuna.

"It's okay, he'll tell you," Tsuna said. "This is just a basic explanation about the setting of IoF."

The NPC had waited until they finished talking to begin his next explanation. "I'll be happy to tell you. Ask questions at any time," the mayor said. "Before the era of humanity, another race lived on this world. They were the ancient ones. They held a great power — the seven Flames of the Sky. Their race disappeared long ago, but remnants of their power still exist: the Box Technology and the humans who manifest Flames. That is, Inheritors like you."

As the mayor paused, giving Kyoko time to ask questions, she glanced at Tsuna again.

"Basically, players all have special abilities called Flames, which are divided into seven types," Tsuna said. "NPCs don't have them. It's like the magic system of this game."

"Okay, I see," Kyoko said. "Then what's the box thing he mentioned?"

Tsuna glanced back to the mayor, prompting the NPC to take the question.

"Only Flames can activate Boxes. They are a form of technology created by the ancient ones," the mayor said, after a short pause. "They are far more advanced than anything made by humans. It was after Boxes were rediscovered that the world changed, and Inheritors like you began to awaken their powers. Of course, Boxes are very convenient as well! Here, take this."

He held out a rather plain, functional Box, which Kyoko accepted uncertainly.

"That is a multipurpose storage and communication Box," the mayor said. "It can store many items and also lets you communicate with other Boxes like it, as long as you let the two link together. Try it out with your friends!"

"…Thank you?" Kyoko said uncertainly. She jumped in surprise when the Box suddenly dissolved in her hands, and glanced at Tsuna again.

"It's fine. That's just the game excuse for why you carry lots of things without them appearing on your avatar, and why you can PM and voice chat with people or see when they're logged in," Tsuna explained.

He'd actually almost forgotten about those things supposedly coming from a Box as well, since he's never seen it materialize since receiving it in the first place. 'Though NPCs always seem to use inventory in the same way, despite supposedly not being able to use Boxes,' Tsuna thought, smiling wryly to himself. It was a pretty slapdash explanation, really.

When they turned back to the mayor, he continued, as if no time had passed, "For your type… It looks like you're primarily a Sun Flame user. The property of Sun Flames is Activation, which can enhance the parameters of objects, skills or individuals. It's the best Flame for support! Here, I have a Sun-type Box. Why don't you try opening it?"

Kyoko gingerly accepted the next Box the mayor offered, which was a cheerful yellow color.

"Just focus your thoughts on the Box and say, 'Open,' and your Flames will gather within!" the NPC added.

Tsuna nodded encouragingly. It was very easy, since the system always assisted in the beginning. The kind of push-pull that came with using Flames was a little strange, the first time you experienced it, like a muscle you never used before, but most players quickly learned to mimic the feeling of activating a Box and no longer relied on the system for help, since it tended to be rather slow and inflexible.

Looking a bit dubious, Kyoko cupped the Box in her hands and concentrated. "Open!" she called out, as it began to glow faintly.

The top side burst open in a flash of yellow Sun Flames, and a small brown hare with tufts of Flames in its ears hopped onto Kyoko's shoulder, earning a surprised but delighted look.

"For Sun Flames, the lowest ranking Box is the Sun Hare. It can help you in battle and accept simple commands," Tsuna explained, as Kyoko reached out to scratch it under the chin. With a quiet chime, her level changed to 1, now that she had completed the basic tutorials.

"Now you should be all set to begin your adventure!" the mayor confirmed. "But be careful. It's dangerous out there, even for an Inheritor. The leader of our defense forces will be happy to teach you a little about fighting the monsters, the rogue Box Animals, and even the other Inheritors."

The mayor gestured to another NPC, who stepped up to the group. But Kyoko only glanced at the defense force leader briefly before saying, "Um. That's okay, thank you. I think I'll be fine."

"Well, if that's what you want," the mayor said, accepting her input before Tsuna could say anything. "Feel free to come by if you have any questions."

"Uh, wait…" Tsuna started to say, but since he wasn't the new player getting the tutorials, his objections went unnoticed by the NPCs, who both quickly departed. He sighed. "Oh dear…"

"Is something wrong?" Kyoko asked, glancing at him worriedly. She bit her lip. "It's just… their explanations are so confusing, I was hoping you could show me instead. I'm sorry, I've already imposed on you this much…"

"It's not that! I'd be happy to," Tsuna said quickly. "But that's supposed to be the combat tutorial, and I can't just take you out in the field and walk you through a fight. My level is too high, so the monsters that would attack us would be very high level too. You wouldn't be able to do anything."

He supposed they could have a duel… If he held back and then surrendered, he could at least talk her through the general flow of combat. But it would be better for her to face a monster in a controlled way first…

"Ah, I have an idea," Tsuna said.

~.~.~

The giant moth let out an angry screech, mandibles clicking, as Tsuna's Flames burned through its remaining wing. Now flightless, its body flopped to the ground and continued to writhe like an overgrown worm.

"Kyoko-chan, now!" Tsuna called out.

"E-eh? But…" Kyoko stammered, glancing uncertainly at the flailing moth-worm.

"Use one of the skills we set up!" Tsuna instructed.

"S-Straight!" Kyoko commanded, instinctively closing her eyes even as the combat system took control of her avatar and used it to deliver a straight bunch to the moth monster, or at least its hit box. With a weak plick, its HP bar went down an almost unnoticeable sliver.

Fortunately, even that weak attack was enough to end it — Tsuna had gauged his own attacks almost perfectly to whittle down the moth's health — and the monster dissolved into light with a blare of victory BGM.

"Well, that's one down," Tsuna said optimistically. "Right? Check your card."

Opening one eye uncertainly, Kyoko pulled out the scorecard she had been given, which read "Bug Hunt" at the top. One of the empty spaces had been stamped, next to the name and stylized picture of the local moth monster.

"One more, and you can turn in the quest for a reward," Tsuna added.

It would, of course, be the lowest possible reward, far below the fancy stag beetle figurine Reborn had gotten when he aced the quest just after he and Tsuna had met. But the reason Tsuna had chosen to have Kyoko start this quest wasn't for the reward.

Rather, because it was a quest, it would automatically link to a person or their party — so just Kyoko herself — and this particular quest also changed the random encounter patterns for the player taking it, making it so they could only run into bug monsters and only one at a time, instead of in their usual swarms. Of course, the levels of the encounters were also tied to the quest taker, as a side effect.

So the hardest part had actually been whittling down the insect monsters' health without killing them by accident. The weakest of Tsuna's usual attacks was a one hit kill, which he ended up doing to their first couple of encounters, and if he was the one to land the final blow, Kyoko's card didn't fill up.

Kyoko herself sighed a little. "I'm… not doing very well, am I?" she said. "I'm sorry for wasting your time like this…"

"No, you're doing fine!" Tsuna assured her quickly. "IoF is very realistic, so it's hard to get used to fighting at the start. I could only use system support skills at first, and I messed up a lot even then."

In the VR combat system, skills could be used in two ways, or you could say there were two ways of fighting.

One was manually. With complete control of their avatar, players moved as if using their real bodies and all their attacks depended purely on their own abilities, coordination, and timing. All "skills" were also executed manually, which meant they could be made stronger or weaker customized to the situation as necessary. This was how Tsuna fought in the present, and how all higher level players fought.

The other way was to use input commands to the combat system, which then controlled the player's avatar. This method was more like traditional video games. The player commanded — usually through voice prompt — the system to use a certain skill, like a straight thrust or a diagonal slash, and their avatar would execute the skill in the same way every time.

The player still had to position themselves and choose which skills to use when, of course, but it was easier, since you didn't need to know how to do the skill yourself. It was less scary too, since you couldn't lose your nerve in the middle of an attack or fumble it.

Before they set out, Tsuna had helped Kyoko set up her list of skill, so that she would just need call out the skill name to activate it. They were all very generic so far, just a straight attack, or a sweeping diagonal, with small variation based on weapon choice…

"Are you sure you don't want to use a weapon?" Tsuna asked. "It'll raise your attack power and your reach, and… it feels a bit better. Easier, you know? With a little distance."

Kyoko shook her head. "No, I want to see how it is to fight with my own hands," she said. She flexed her small fists, looking down at them thoughtfully. "Maybe a pair of gloves like yours?"

"My type is only useful for channeling Flames," Tsuna said. "And I don't have any for your level. I used twin daggers when I was starting out…" Before he met Ieyasu and changed his character setup to match. "…Then I guess you don't want to use your Box Animal either? I relied on mine a lot in the beginning."

He'd had a flying squirrel, which was the starter Sky Flame Box — all the basic ones players received from the town hall were rodents.

Smiling faintly, Kyoko shook her head again. "The reason I decided to play this game…" she started to say. "It's because my brother really loves it. He's a boxer, you know, and he's always playing… No, that's not true. He still loves all the things he did before he started, and he's not some shut in. He's still in his club, and he does his usual training routine. But whenever he plays it, he's so happy!"

Her smile widened for a moment before quickly dropping away.

"I… really love my brother. But I don't understand him," she admitted. "I don't understand why he likes fighting, or why he likes this game. I wanted to understand him, but… I can't. I just can't see what he sees in it. What's the point of it? Why does it make him so happy?"

As she spoke, her words coming faster and sharper, her tone grew more and more strained and desperate. She didn't look up at Tsuna, only staring still at her hands, clutched into trembling fists.

From the start, Kyoko had seemed like the sort of girl who was always smiling, but now Tsuna wondered how long she had been holding in her thoughts and doubts.

Reaching out, he placed his hand over one of hers and squeezed gently. "I don't like fighting either," he said. "I like raiding dungeons or taking quests, but not because of the fighting. I like feeling like I'm good at something, like I'm accomplishing something, and also having fun with my friends. It's not like fighting is all there is to this game. The reason so many people like it… It must be because it's a whole wide world where you can do anything and be anyone. We'll find something for you too, I'm sure of it!"

He waited patiently as Kyoko took a deep breath and let it out. When she turned to look at him again, she looked uncertain, but hopeful. "Do you really think it'll work out?" she wondered.

"Yeah, I'm sure of it," Tsuna said. "Besides, something good already happened, right? Without this world, we probably wouldn't have met, and I'm glad to have you as a friend."

Kyoko smiled, somehow more honest and prettier than ever before. "Me too."

~.~.~

However, for all his apparent confidence, Tsuna was actually at something of a loss.

'What do girls even like to do?' he wondered a bit frantically. Having spoken to a grand total of three women in his life, Tsuna couldn't begin to guess.

Nana liked cooking, but the IoF virtual engine for taste was the weakest of the five senses. Chrome liked making new illusions, but using Flame properties creatively took a higher level, and battles were really the best way to get there. Haru liked consumes…

Haru! Now there was an idea.

"Okay, let's go sell your prize and the stuff you got from the monsters," Tsuna said, after they completed and closed the quest. The NPC who had given the quest, supposedly some researcher studying the changes in the local animals after the rediscovery of Flames and having the Inheritors get samples for him, had given Kyoko the cheapest, simplest statuette — vendor trash, good for basically nothing but selling.

"I got something from that?" Kyoko wondered. Chewing her lip thoughtfully, she called up her menu and tried to navigate to the inventory. Fortunately, the system was pretty intuitive in that way, at least. Indeed, there was a short list of monster drops there — mostly weird things like "scale powder" or "beetle carapace" which were only good for crafting or selling.

It was technically possible to sell at any shop, what wares they produced, but the prices varied depending on whether the shop specialized in what you were selling or if you had some kind of special bonus for that particular establishment.

For the low-level loot Kyoko had, any shore would have been fine, but Tsuna led the way to Haru's costume shop. Aside from putting her own merchandise for sale, Haru could also use the shop to run a trading business — buying players' items, reselling at special auction houses only for merchants, acquiring other items there, and so on.

Since Haru liked the guild, she always gave them a special low price, even for things like generic potions.

Tsuna just hoped she was logged on. There was an NPC assistant that minded the shop when Haru wasn't available, but obviously Tsuna wouldn't be able to ask for advice then.

The bell above the door rang as they stepped into the cute costume boutique. Tsuna noted that Haru had changed the displays again, both in the window and inside the shop. She also seemed to have changed the wallpaper by a few shades, though he couldn't be sure. Unlike Tsuna's guild, who didn't spend much time in their guildhall and, aside from Lambo and the couches he had insisted on acquiring, only cared about its practical uses, Haru had gone through a great deal of effort to make her store hers in every way.

"Hahi! Ieyasu-san?" Haru exclaimed in surprise, already coming around from behind the counter. "But that Octopus head told Haru you wouldn't be able to play anymore!"

"Yeah, I thought so too, but something unexpected came up, so here I am…" Tsuna said, glossing over the details. "More importantly, there's someone I want you to meet. This is Kyoko. She just started playing today, and we were hoping you could buy the loot from her first time out in the field. Kyoko, this is Haru-Haru, or just Haru for short. This is her shop."

"Nice to meet you," Kyoko said, waving.

"Of course! Haru'll be happy to take that stuff off your hands for a good price!" She winked, making Kyoko giggle. "Then comes the fun part — deciding what you're going to do with the money," Haru continued as she deftly worked her more complex merchant goods exchange menu. "How about a cute costume? Or at least a hairpin! Haru has some very pretty ones that'll look great with your hair."

Reaching up to finger a strand of her long orange hair thoughtfully, Kyoko agreed, "That sounds nice. I have short hair in real life, so trying some hair styles might be fun, if you can do that here."

"Oh, sure!" Haru said eagerly. "Haru's hairstyling skill is a bit lower than sewing, but still very good! We could do lots of fun things! Even stuff you can't do in real life!"

IoF was rather loose in applying realistic effects to things like outfits and hairstyles, making things that were impractical or even physically impossible in real life relatively easy to create, and maintain, in the game. That included everything from ankle-length hair that never tangled to bikini armor that provided as much protection as a tank.

"So running this shop is how you play the game?" Kyoko was asking.

"That's right! Haru loves making costumes, in real life time too. So in IoF, Haru really liked the costume feature from the start and focused on that skill," Haru explained. "Getting the crafting materials, raising the right skills, unlocking the patterns, and even making unique designs — Haru doesn't mean to brag, but Haru's costumes are the best on this server. And to sell them, Haru got this shop too. It's Haru's territory."

Her passion was obvious, and Tsuna knew that Haru had a lot to be proud of — her costume making and related skills really were incredibly high, and holding a territory as a single player was actually very rare — but he could tell that the game terms were going over Kyoko's head. This was the first video game she had ever played, so she didn't have any background to understand what Haru was talking about.

Haru seemed to notice it too, smiling wryly. "Haru has a great idea!" she declared, clapping her hands together. "Why don't you try on some of Haru's costumes? Then you'll see how good they are." She nodded to herself. 'And maybe you'll even buy one,' her merchant side added silently.

"Oh! That sounds like a lot of fun!" Kyoko agreed.

"Then please come this way to the changing rooms," Haru directed her toward the back of the shop, where several smaller areas were partitioned off by decorated curtains.

It was possible to change outfits instantly through the menu, so changing rooms were technically unnecessary, but Haru insisted that it added more excitement if you could dramatically sweep aside the curtains to emerge in your new duds.

"Okay, try this one, and this, and this…" Haru muttered to herself. She didn't even bother materializing the items, just swiping them out of her inventory list in Kyoko's direction — a fast and loose way of sending objects to someone nearby. She paused, coming to one particular item. "I almost forgot. This one is for you, Ieyasu-san." She flicked it toward him instead.

His menu opened automatically, displaying the newly added item. Tsuna stared at in bemusement. The name — "Love Can't Be Concealed!" — was completely unindicative, so with some trepidation, Tsuna tapped on it and caught the pink cloth that materialized in his arms.

He held it up, his expression going blank, then horrified. "H-Haru… This is…"

Boxers. He was holding up a pair of boxers. Pink, with red hearts everywhere.

"Why?!" Tsuna wondered helplessly. It was a costume too, he realized, so he couldn't even wear something over it.

"Your friend Leon suggested it," Haru said happily. "It really suits you. You had me make lots of boxers before, remember?"

"That was because I couldn't get indestructible clothes!" Tsuna protested.

That was right after he first started using Dying Will Mode. It hadn't worked quite right and the burst of its activation always ended up dealing damage to his clothing, which inevitably disintegrated. Indestructible clothing was expensive, required rare crafting materials, and had been beyond Haru's skill level back then, so Tsuna had settled for at least wearing nice boxers — as if he totally intended to end up showing them off, instead of it being some uncontrollable, mortifying side effect.

Haru seemed happy to ignore all that. "Go on, put them on!" she urged Tsuna. "I want to see how they turned out!"

Tsuna gulped.

~.~.~

Needless to say, Tsuna didn't escape with his dignity intact. But he did escape eventually, stumbling out of Haru's shop as he fumbled to reequip actual clothing. Luckily, Haru hadn't given chase.

Once he felt he was far enough, Tsuna slowed to a walk and gave a sigh of relief. A moment later, he grimaced a little. His stomach was rumbling with the beginnings of hunger. Checking the menu clock, he could see that it was already late afternoon, early evening. He'd spent more time with Kyoko and then Haru than he had intended.

Probably, it was time to log out — if he could. Tsuna wasn't entirely worried, per se. Even if the usual way didn't work, he could try leaving the way he switched areas, by just imagining himself back in the real world, or even go to admins, if it came to that. But the first thing to do was try the log out button. Tsuna hesitated, his finger hovering over his menu as he took a deep breath.

Thus preoccupied, Tsuna didn't pay any attention to the other players and NPCs passing down the street around him. The sight of someone standing around fiddling with their menu was nothing strange, so everyone simply gave him a wide berth, even those that recognized him.

At the far end of the street, one player was stopped by another, who asked a question he had already repeated numerous times. The first nodded and obligingly pointed down the street. The boy who had asked glanced in that direction, toward Tsuna, his eyes widening in hope, then with a quick bow, took off toward his target.

"Ieyasu-dono!"

Tsuna looked around in surprise as someone called him — a boy about Tsuna's real age, with dark blond hair and blue eyes, who ran up to him and squared his shoulders with a stern, determined expression.

"Are you Ieyasu-dono, the tenth Over Rank player?" the boy demanded. "I am Basil, of Vongola's guild."

"As you can see, I am," Tsuna said warily. "Why do you ask?"

Basil puffed up even more, which still felt a little ridiculous to Tsuna — even though everyone knew that the age of the avatar wasn't indicative of the player's age, most of the younger players ended up treating Tsuna like someone older, an adult to look up to. Basil was the same way, trying to make himself appear more impressive and serious, like talking to an upperclassman, if not a popular teacher.

Tsuna, of course, was actually just a clumsy middle school student.

"I have heard a great deal in regard to your skills and prowess from our honorable guild master," Basil began. "Your many accomplishments speak highly of you, and it is with great humbleness that I would like to present a request before you, Ieyasu-dono…"

Mentally, Tsuna sighed. 'Another duel challenge,' he thought. 'Well, at least he asked politely…'

"Please, Ieyasu-dono!" Basil declared, dropping into _dogeza_, of all things. "Please teach me the secret of your Dying Will Mode!"

~.~.~


	13. Raid

~.~.~

**Title: **Inheritors of Flame**  
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**Last time:** After being convinced to not use his VR gear for a while, Tsuna was somehow able to visit the world of IoF in his dreams. There, he met a new player named Kyoko and was asked to tutor another player in the use of Dying Will Mode.

**Notes:** Even though this is split chapter, update only next Friday. I need to build up a bit of a backlog.

~.~.~

**Chapter 10: Raid**

Gokudera was far from happy about leaving his boss in the dark, but he didn't think that telling Tauna was a good idea either. Tsuna would have comforted them, insisting that he didn't value them for their power and that he'd never leave them behind, but that wasn't the issue. It wasn't Tsuna voluntarily abandoning them that Gokudera worried about, after all.

Not to mention that he didn't want to seem like he was rubbing Tsuna's face in the fact that they were all going to spend time together, while Tsuna was left out.

Better to come clean later, when they had something to show for it.

So Gokudera rushed out the moment classes ended on Saturday. In a venture like taking on a Hell Hole, every minute counted, but there hadn't been much point in leaving early or skipping altogether — the danger of Hibari's wrath aside — Yamamoto and Ryohei both had school too, which let out at about the same time.

Lambo was already at his dingy little apartment. "About time, Octopus head! Lambo-san has been waiting!" the brat declared, shoving the VR gear into Gokudera's arms. He had set up both systems and wasted no time in pulling on his own visor.

Gokudera followed suite, and the two of them appeared in the guildhall within moments of each other. It wasn't much longer before the other two members arrived as well, Yamamoto panting a little even in his avatar. He had run all the way home and hasn't caught his breath before logging in.

"Are we all ready to go?" Yamamoto asked. "I'm all pumped!"

"I'm ready to the extreme!" Ryohei agreed.

"Before that, there's something we need to decide," Gokudera said shortly. "We need to decide which Hell Hole we're going to." As the other three exchanged a quick look, he continued, "White Tower is the one Boss beat. Mermaid Forest is the other one I've been to — Boss and I went with another guild a while back, but it's confusing and annoyingly cheap. It'll take ages to make any progress there. That leaves seven others to choose from."

Mermaid Forest had just appeared back then, and another small guild they knew had gone to explore it. They had also invited Tsuna and Gokudera along — Lambo had declined, and Ryohei had been busy with something else.

The Mermaid Forest was called that because it appeared as yet another jungle that was somehow entirely underwater. Players didn't need to worry about holding their breath, but they took movement and other stat penalties, and the unpredictable currents were treacherous. They often unexpectedly tossed players around, shoved them into traps, or simply crushed them under an unexpected weight.

Not to mention that the currents couldn't be seen, and the monsters had all mutated to move through the water freely. It was incredibly frustrating. Gokudera suspected that, during the two weeks of their exploration before, they had managed to do nothing but go in circles.

"Well, the second one is… Never mind, that would be too much hassle," Lambo started to say, only to cut himself off. The second Hell Hole to appear was a whirlpool in the middle of a strait. It had once been a boat route that let players hunt sea monsters, but now it was nearly inaccessible. He offered instead, "The third is Eruption Crater, right?"

"Yes… We could probably deal with the volcanic activity, but I heard the monsters there are all damage sponges. I remember a sentai party took almost an hour to kill just one, and the encounter rate is insane," Gokudera mused, using the slightly mocking player name for a party of seven, one for each Flame type. "It would take too long for just our group to go through them."

Lambo rubbed his head, frowning thoughtfully. "I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather not go through status effect hell, so Dead Garden and Poison Fog are both out."

Gokudera nodded in agreement, reluctantly. "I don't think we'd be able to get enough elixirs even in a month of preparation," he muttered. "But the last one, Fairy Spring, no one's explored it much, and I haven't heard much about it, except that it's confusing. And the Cradle is supposed to be about the same. It wouldn't be any good to end up having to wander pointlessly…"

Yamamoto and Ryohei exchanged a look. Neither of them kept up with message board gossip much, and Yamamoto had only been playing since just before the ninth Hell Hole appeared. He hadn't paid those things much attention. The entire discussion was going over their heads.

"That only leaves one," Lambo pointed out.

"I suppose it's not a bad option," Gokudera said, though he was still frowning.

"Um," Yamamoto spoke up, raising his hand like a student in class, "so what did we decide?"

"We're going to the Vault," Gokudera said, "to The Chosen: Livewire Fortress."

~.~.~

The eighth Hell Hole, Livewire Fortress — often still called the Vault, in reference to the area's original form, before it was transformed. It had been called the Forgotten Vault, or something similar, and was supposed to be a metal stronghold hidden in a mountain range, containing a treasure or a secret from before the reemergence of Flames.

After the eighth Over Rank had change the area with his powers, electricity — or rather, Lightning Flames — began to circulate through the fortress and brought all the previously deactivated defenses back to life, or even allowed them to somehow develop further. The entire metal facility was in constant motion, like the inside of a giant engine. Players also liked to grumble about it being like a factory level, but with less molten metal and instead extra lasers.

"Do you think it's still there?" Yamamoto asked, once Gokudera finished explaining. "The treasure or whatever that was inside the original vault?"

Gokudera shrugged distractedly, preoccupied with trying to remember which of the European servers they needed. The Vault itself was where the Swiss mountains would have been, but on which side? The server divide ran through there, and Gokudera hadn't been back in a while.

"That'd be cool, if we could get some treasure too," Lambo mused. "But I doubt it."

"It'll be an extreme adventure either way!" Ryohei said. He threw a few punches at invisible enemies, grinning in anticipation.

"Just ask someone," Lambo told Gokudera, finally losing his patience. "Boss does it all the time."

The blatant manipulation made Gokudera scowl, but it worked too, and their guild master grudgingly made his way over to one of the NPCs to ask for directions.

They had taken a gate from Sanmon to Colosso, on the Italian server, and it showed. All the conversations around them, and even the sighs above the shops, were in a language Yamamoto and Ryohei could only guess was Italian.

The signs were just for flavor, so their cursors, which automatically came up when players focused on any game object for a few seconds and contained basic information, were in the chosen interface language — Japanese, for Yamamoto and Ryohei. But for the conversations, they would need to rely on the notoriously inaccurate interpretation software within the game system. Although it could theoretically interpret spoken dialogue in real time, its output was often far off the mark. To the point that player parties with language barriers preferred the clunky texting function, and then applying the written translation software to that instead.

In the end, everyone just tried to find players they shared a common language with — which often meant a lot of hilariously broken English, in international parties and events.

Finishing his conversation with the NPCs, Gokudera made his way back over to the group, but his expression was oddly thoughtful.

"So? Which is it?" Lambo asked. "Or did you mess up somehow?"

"It's on this server. Come on, we need to get to the highway," Gokudera said, glaring a little. "It's just weird. The NPC said someone else has been asking about that place. They don't usually mention stuff like that."

"An event hook?" Ryohei suggested.

"You think because Boss cleared one of them, some event got triggered in the other Hell Holes?" Gokudera said. "I guess it could be. We'll just have to keep an eye out." The thought didn't sit well with him. If something was going on, it might render the information he had gathered useless.

Yamamoto chuckled, earning himself a suspicious glare. "I guess we're lucky you and Lambo speak Italian," he told Gokudera.

"Don't be stupid," Gokudera said, rolling his eyes. "We're Italian. You're lucky we speak Japanese."

Or rather, they were the lucky ones, since they had been able to meet Tsuna that way.

~.~.~

The metal catwalks, suspended over a seemingly bottomless pit, began to groan and sway. The sparking live cables hanging over the narrow passages also began to swing back and forth, making passing between them without getting shocked an even more impossible task.

Gokudera swore under his breath. "The layout's shifting again. Run for it!" he yelled.

Ryohei, in the lead, obeyed without hesitation, Yamamoto following on his heels. Lambo and finally Gokudera brought up behind them. They moved barely in time. The segment of catwalk they had been standing on suddenly separated from the rest, swinging away as an entire block of the structure began to shift sideways.

A metal wall slid forward to cover the way back, and parts of it began to rearrange themselves like a giant puzzle. The same was happening to the walls on either side, sections twisting, opening, closing and changing shape. Gokudera cursed again, barely ducking under sweeping laser beam that had just revealed itself.

There was a platform and a door just ahead, and Ryohei charged toward it, glowing with the yellow of his Flames. Using Sun's activation property let him buff himself enough to minimize the damage and stun effect of the sparkling cables that hit him on his way through.

Yamamoto wasn't so lucky. He managed to slice apart the first few that swung in front of him, but a single misstep led to a nasty shock as a cable snaked across his shoulder. It took off a chunk of his HP and, more problematically, put him under a paralysis status effect. Yamamoto stumbled, his avatar refusing to obey his mental commands.

Lambo, who had been following him, tripped over Yamamoto and went down with a yelp. Gokudera, bringing up behind them, managed to stop himself just in time, there was nowhere for him to go.

Ryohei glanced back, hesitating… And then the entire section of the catwalk gave way under them, sending them all plummeting into the pit below. It wasn't bottomless, Yamamoto had just enough time to realize. It was filled with water — electrified water.

Then, he found himself staring at the blankness that served as the loading screen. A message appeared: _Would you like to return to the nearest checkpoint or Quit?_

For a moment, Yamamoto was tempted to just quit. He didn't want to face everyone's disappointed faces, but he knew that running away would just make it worse.

He reappeared last at one of the supposed control rooms that served as checkpoints in the Vault. The others were already there, though they looked about as enthusiastic as he felt. Lambo had prostrated himself over a console, Gokudera was glaring at some spot on the wall, and even Ryohei was pacing restlessly.

It wasn't the first time they had gotten caught by the interior of the Vault suddenly shifting like that. They had gotten killed by it twice and separated three more times, which inevitably lead to death not much later. It wouldn't have been a Hell Hole if the difficulty was normal, after all, and the entire dungeon wasn't full of cheap instant death traps.

But maybe they would have made it this time if Yamamoto hadn't messed up.

"Got hit with Stun again?" Gokudera demanded, catching sight of Yamamoto. "Can't you use your Flames to get rid of it?"

"I'm sorry," Yamamoto said. "I got in the way…"

It was the undeniable truth. He was the weak link. He was hit with status effects, usually Stun, what felt like every ten steps, and the others had to either wait for him or help him dispel it — while all of them could shake it off easily any time they were hit.

Lambo didn't seem to even feel all the electricity attacks and traps thanks to his Lightning nature and its Hardening property, which raised his defense. Gokudera's high level gave him a naturally high resistance, and he could stack skills from different Flames to make up for their relatively low level. Even Ryohei had high levels in his self-buff skills.

Yamamoto hadn't realized how far behind he was in developing the skills for his Flames. He had always focused on swordsmanship, which was fun and reminded him of his father, and with his natural instincts, he'd been able to come out on top in his fights. But that meant he had never focused on his Flames, and he couldn't even do something as easy as dispelling a status effect on himself, which was one of the simplest applications of Rain's Tranquility property — wearing down the effects of an enemy technique.

To make it even worse, the enemies in the Vault — robots, mostly — had high physical defense, so they took much less damage from normal strikes and required Flame-enhanced attacks to take down. Which everyone had no problem with, except Yamamoto.

'Useless,' he thought to himself, scathing and bitter. What good was he, if he just dragged everyone down? At this rate…

"I'm sorry," Yamamoto repeated. "I'll do better. I'll, I'll figure out a way. I swear! So let's try again, okay?" He smiled as cheerfully and encouragingly as he could — his "ace" smile, the one that always made the baseball team relax and trust him.

Gokudera only frowned. "We'll try again," he agreed, "but tomorrow. There's no point in doing another run tonight. Everyone's dismissed."

"You sure? We'll lose the checkpoint and have to start from the beginning again," Lambo pointed out.

"It's fine. I think… I've got an idea," Gokudera said.

Lambo shrugged, and the two of them logged out moments later. Yamamoto jumped when Ryohei clapped him on the shoulder before logging out as well. None of them said anything about his repeated failures, or suggested he sit out the next day, if he was just going to be worse than useless. But they must have been thinking it. A player that couldn't even pull his weight was going to get benched in no time.

"I'll do better," Yamamoto said again. "…I have to."

~.~.~

Yamamoto didn't get much sleep that night, the same thoughts spinning in his mind over and over. He had to get better, he had to do better. It was still dark out when he finally gave up on sleeping and crawled out of bed.

Shivering at the cold, Yamamoto began to warm up out of habit and, once he finished his stretches, picked up his favorite bat. But even his usual routine of practice swings didn't make him feel better. Slowly, Yamamoto shifted his grip until he was holding the bat upright vertically in front of him.

"Hah!" he exhaled sharply as he swung downward, like he was cutting a monster in half.

The movement had been natural, the same as he had executed numerous times in IoF, but Yamamoto sighed. The weight was all wrong and the grip was awkward. Baseball bats weren't swords, after all.

His father had trained in kendo when he was younger, before becoming a sushi chef, but Tsuyoshi hadn't taught his son anything of the sword, and as far as Yamamoto knew, they didn't even have a bamboo shinai around the house to practice with. For the first time, Yamamoto felt a sense of bitter regret at never pressing his old man for some tips or even just a demonstration.

Maybe he could have used some of those skills, instead of relying on his own guesses and adapting the system's generic skills. After all, his old man always said his style was flawless and undefeatable…

Despite his dissatisfaction with his first attempt, Yamamoto raised the bat again. This time he swung three times in succession, going through his preferred short combo. Again, the weight was all wrong, making him overbalanced on the last swing.

"Whoops," Yamamoto murmured softly as he swayed, trying to right himself.

A quiet chuckle made him spin around in surprise.

Unnoticed by Yamamoto, his father had emerged from the back of their house and stood silently against the wall, watching Yamamoto's clumsy practice. Despite the show of amusement, Tsuyoshi looked faintly pained.

"I understand it's your love of baseball shining through, but you shouldn't do that," Yamamoto's father said. "Baseball bats aren't made for swordsmanship. You're going to develop all kinds of bad habits like that."

Yamamoto chuckled sheepishly. "Right, right," he agreed, grinning. "I was just playing around."

"You're up earlier than usual," Tsuyoshi noted. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I don't think there's a game coming up, unless I'm forgetting something…"

"Nah, I just couldn't sleep," Yamamoto admitted. It had been nerves that kept him up, but pasting on a smile, he added, "Too excited! My guild's doing this awesome raid!"

His father nodded along. "Is that why the sudden interest in swordsmanship?" he asked. "You never cared much for it before."

"I do play a swordsman, you know," Yamamoto tried to laugh it off.

But as his father continued to wait patiently, watching him without judgement, Yamamoto couldn't help fidgeting. His old man never believed any show he put on, so he supposed now wasn't any different. Of course, his old man never looked down on him for not being always utterly confident and on top of everything, either.

"It's just… everyone's so strong. I don't want to get left behind. I have to get stronger too," Yamamoto said quietly.

"It's not like you have to rush ahead," Tsuyoshi pointed out. "You're playing that game to have fun, right? You don't have to push yourself so much."

"For fun, huh?" Yamamoto muttered.

He did have fun in IoF. It wasn't as amazing as baseball, but swinging a sword came easily to him and the battles were interesting in their own way. He had fun, fighting and exploring and conquering the areas.

It hadn't been like in the beginning. Yamamoto had only started playing IoF to pass the time while his broken arm healed. He hadn't been able to stand the uselessness he'd felt at being forced to sit out of the team training and most of his own training too. Yamamoto hadn't quite realized how much time he dedicated to baseball, up until that was no longer an option.

But as exciting as a whole new world should have been, Yamamoto had only messed around halfheartedly in IoF. That was why he hadn't even really cared when he ended up getting suckered into a "winner take all" duel by a group of much stronger players who had been running a repeat scam on new players. What did it matter if he "died?" None of it mattered at all. Without being able to play baseball, he couldn't bring himself to care about anything.

However, Tsuna and his guild had cared. Tsuna himself, in full "Ieyasu" mode, had crashed in on the duel just as Yamamoto had been about to let himself be PKed without lifting a finger to stop it. Needless to say, Tsuna had made short work of the group who had tried to exploit newbies on his territory.

Afterwards, well, Yamamoto might have been a little starstruck. Everyone on the guild had been so passionate about keeping Minamoto safe — except Lambo, he supposed, but the other three more than made up for it — that Yamamoto got a little carried away. That was so cool, he'd said without thinking, can I join too?

Yamamoto still thought Tsuna was one of the two coolest people he'd ever met, alongside his old man, but not for the superficial reasons he'd had at the start. Tsuna was far more amazing than that — he cared about people, in a way none of Yamamoto's classmates or teammates ever had; he just wanted his friends to be happy, and everyone else to enjoy themselves too, and he did everything he could to make that happen.

Tsuna had been willing to go so far for Chrome, would do the same for any of them. He was the core of their guild, even if Gokudera was nominally the guild master for now. Yamamoto couldn't stand the thought of letting Tsuna down when it counted — he wanted to pay back everything Tsuna had done, for all of them.

Yamamoto wanted to not just receive Tsuna's friendship and support, but also give back just as much.

He didn't want to get left behind in their quest to get stronger. That was their original reason for going into a Hell Hole. Tsuna, their leader and more importantly their friend, was getting mixed up in some strange, dangerous things. And the only way they could keep up with Tsuna was if they got stronger.

"Right now, it's not just for fun," Yamamoto told his father, his grip on the baseball tightening unconsciously. "It's for my friends. I want to help them. That's why… I'm going to get stronger no matter what."

Yes, he wouldn't accept anything else. He'd find a way. Just like Tsuna

Watching his son's expression, Tsuyoshi finally smiled wryly. "That's a pretty strong resolve," he said. "Alright, alright. If you're that determined, your old man will just have to help you out. But!" Tsuyoshi gave Yamamoto a firm look, before he could start celebrating. "Only if you're completely serious about this. I won't teach the sword to someone with half-hearted resolve."

Yamamoto grinned, but there was a rare edge to it. "I've never been more serious in my life."

"Not even about baseball?" his father joked.

"No," Yamamoto said, "not even about baseball."

~.~.~

Hell Holes were called unbeatable for a reason, even if that wasn't technically correct, and even Gokudera wasn't really surprised that a party of four players of varied levels and skills couldn't take down one of the "cruelest areas" in a weekend, no matter how much sleep they skipped.

The missed sleep, at least, was easy enough to make up — in the middle of class on Monday. It wasn't like Gokudera paid attention normally anyway.

The teacher scowled, of course, but Gokudera wouldn't have cared even if he had been awake. But more importantly, he missed that Tsuna was doing a fair amount of his own sleeping in class, which was unusual — even if he didn't understand anything, Tsuna had been putting in extra effort to at least pay attention in the last few months.

"Sawada! Gokudera!" Nezu-sensei barked, only to start turning an alarming shade of purple when he was completely ignored. Since Gokudera scared even the teachers with his glares and threats, Nezu turned his ire on Tsuna, stomping over and kicking his desk.

"Huh? Izzit lunch already?" Tsuna mumbled, lifting his head and looking around blearily.

"Sawada, you worthless degenerate…" Nezu began to growl, only to be interrupted by a much more frightening growl behind him.

"What," Gokudera hissed, raising his head, eyes narrowed, "did you call Tsuna-sama?" It seemed an insult to his boss could rouse him even from the depths of slumber.

Nezu gulped, and Gokudera's glare darkened. He had developed a deep dislike for the teacher in the months he'd been at Nami-Middle, and any excuse to put the weasel in his place was a good one to Gokudera.

However, Nezu was saved by the bell, which rang before Gokudera could scare the man any further.

"D-dismissed," Nezu stammered, quickly turning on his heel and fleeing the classroom.

Gokudera yawned widely as he and Tsuna made their way to the roof — their usual lunch spot. By contrast, Tsuna looked wide awake, if a little subdued. For once, Gokudera didn't even put up a token protest at receiving a lunch box from Tsuna — or rather, Nana — only stuffing food in his mouth and chewing mechanically.

Tsuna glanced at him and fidgeted again. "S-so! That was close! We should probably try to sleep in class less, or Hibari's going to come after us," Tsuna said awkwardly, trying to break the ice. "That would be really bad, huh, Gokudera-kun?"

There was no response. Gokudera had nodded off while sitting up, the half-eaten bento still in his lap.

Staring for a moment, Tsuna sighed and took a bite of rice out of his own lunch. "I guess I'll tell him later," he mused.

~.~.~

"Later," Gokudera rushed off again, the moment class ended. He ended up arriving at his tiny apartment before even Lambo and paced around it like caged tiger for the ten minutes more it took the boy to get there — Gokudera didn't want to log in alone, not trusting Lambo not to dawdle, or not to draw on his face for laughs.

"What took you so long?" Gokudera demanded when Lambo finally burst in.

The boy rolled his eyes. "I was helping Mama," he said. "Cool it, will you? It doesn't matter if you pace here or in IoF, you know."

Lambo yelped when Gokudera grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and viciously ground his knuckles into Lambo's skull, before cramming a VR visor onto his head. "Just for that, you can take point, stupid cow," Gokudera ordered.

"Whaaat? That's abuse of power! And just abuse too!" Lambo complained, even as he lay back on the battered beanbag chair in one corner.

Gokudera snorted, taking his own place on the threadbare mattress. He closed his eyes and eased into the familiar void of the VR linkup. When he opened them, he was back in front of the entrance to the Vault — a narrow ledge in front of large, thick metal doors.

It was still just morning in Italy — and thus on the Italy server — but he and Lambo were standing in a deep shadow, the entrance to the dungeon concealed from view by part of the mountainside. The only way up to the ledge at all was a path barely wider than the scaffolding on the outside of a building and also unnoticeable from the surrounding snowy mountain slopes. Overall, the dungeon was almost impossible to find without directions — fitting, for a supposed secret facility.

Even though they couldn't really feel the cold, Lambo still sniffled and rubbed his arms. As he had predicted, Ryohei and Yamamoto hadn't arrived yet, and Gokudera wasted no time in starting to pace again.

As was its annoying habit, the system materialized the other two just as Gokudera turned his back. He spun on his heel to continue his narrow circuit, only to find himself almost tripping over his guildmates.

Ignoring Gokudera's hissed curse, Yamamoto greeted him cheerfully, "Yo! You guys ready to try again?"

"Ready to the extreme!" Ryohei confirmed, punching one palm with the other fist.

"Me too," Yamamoto agreed, his smile shifting a little in a way Gokudera couldn't quite pin down.

'At least he doesn't look like someone kicked his dog anymore,' Gokudera thought, more relieved than he was willing to let on. It had been hard to miss the desperate, strained air around Yamamoto by the end of Saturday, and he had begged off for most of Sunday, claiming some kind of special training. Emotional upkeep was more Tsuna's field, and Gokudera was glad that, whatever the baseball idiot's problem had been, he'd resolved it himself.

"Great," Gokudera snorted outwardly. "Then let's go already."

The thick blast doors of the Vault's entrance slid open slowly, revealing the metal passage deeper into the mountain. Gokudera frowned as they stepped inside. The lights were already on… but their last two visits, the long row of gloomy yellow lamps had flickered on only as they progressed through the passage.

There was another set of thick metal doors at the end of the corridor, leading into the first control room checkpoint. But here, again, everything was already lit up and turned on, the machinery humming with the electricity running through it. Unlike on Sunday morning, when they had returned to the entire facility having shut down once more in their absence.

"Wait," Gokudera stopped them before they could proceed past the doorway.

"What's wrong, Octopus head?" Ryohei asked. "You don't have to be nervous. We'll beat this thing to the extreme!"

Gokudera scowled. "That's not it, you turf-headed idiot!" he snapped. "There's someone already here!"

Someone was indeed there, and they chuckled lightly, having heard his words. As the four of them turned to stare into the control room in surprise, confusion, and suspicion, a woman stepped into view. She waved, smiling pleasantly.

"I was waiting for you," she said. "I have a proposition for you. We all want to clear this area, yes? So why don't we work together? It's the only way we'll can succeed."

There was something very knowing about her seemingly mild expression and manner. It made Gokudera immediately distrustful and on edge. "How did you know we'd be here? Who are you?" he demanded, before any of the others could say something ridiculous — like agree with her out of hand.

"I just had a feeling," the woman replied, mysteriously. "And me? I'm just another player, that's all. Here, I'm Cosmos."

~.~.~


	14. Backstory

~.~.~

**Title: **Inheritors of Flame**  
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**Last time:** Without Tsuna, the rest of his guild decide to challenge a Hell Hole. It proved a challenge worthy of being called an "unbeatable" dungeon. Fortunately, they encountered an unexpected ally.

**Notes:** Canon, what is that? Haha.

~.~.~

**Chapter 10.5: Backstory  
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They formed a party together, in the end. It was only natural — against a tough quest or area, even players who didn't know each other would often work together temporarily. It was rare that some kind of sabotage took place, and in a place like one of the Hell Holes, where they would all be dying multiple times yet, it was a ridiculous notion.

The only possible issue was how they'd divide the loot, but Cosmos assured them she wasn't interested in any of the possible equipment, and they weren't after it themselves, not really.

"So why did you decide to take on a Hell Hole by yourself?" Yamamoto asked their new ally, as they moved into the first section of the dungeon.

"I'm not by myself," Cosmos pointed out. "I'm with you."

"That's true," Yamamoto laughed. "But how come you're not with your friends or your guild?"

They had to pause their conversation as the giant mechanical hand-like structures that lined the passages closed in on them again and blocked the path ahead. Yamamoto sidestepped one and sliced it neatly in two, then cut off another turret too. Cosmos's counterattack was subtler, just a thrust with the butt of her staff, but somehow managing to score a critical hit that had the robot arm slumping over powerlessly.

Gokudera, who had been eavesdropping shamelessly, frowned. He easily put in his own share of destruction — blowing up the set of giant robot arms further ahead, which had also regenerated after Lambo cleared out the passage initially with a charge from his Lightning Bull — while considering their new ally and her abilities. She wasn't very high level, but she was a Sky type. Sky was the rarest type of Flame, though whether it was any good was a point of great debate.

For one thing, no one quite understood what Sky Flames' property, Harmony, really did. It was supposed to represent the ability to synchronize with the surroundings and a state of no contradiction, when everything was one. In general, it was agreed to mean that Sky Flame users could do anything the other six types could, but with a penalty to effectiveness, plus an extra benefit to sensing skills.

Of course, Sky Flames were so rare it was basically impossible to be really sure. Cosmos was only the fourth Sky primary Gokudera had ever seen in person — after Tsuna, the Vongola guild master, and the Cavalry guild master.

As they continued onward at a fast clip, Yamamoto added, "You don't have to say if you don't want to. I was just wondering. We're working to get stronger, you see. It's for our friend. He used to be our guild master, but he had to stop playing, and this is the only way we can help him, by getting strong enough to protect him if anything else happens."

He was right, more or less, but Gokudera had to wonder how that sounded to someone not aware of the situation. It was probably a completely incomprehensible chain of logic.

Cosmos just smiled faintly. "I suppose it's the same for me," she said. "It's for… a friend. We used to play together — him, my daughter and I. But he left us, suddenly. It was right after we had gone to this area. Though, it was different then…" She added the last part quietly to herself.

Yamamoto hummed thoughtfully. "So you want to look for some clue here?" he guessed.

"That's right. Maybe I'll be able to understand what he was thinking, if I reach the heart of this place," Cosmos said, her expression becoming pensive. "I haven't been able to get in touch with him at all, so it's the only thing left to try."

She might have said something else, but her attention seemed to be suddenly caught and she paused.

"It's shifting," Cosmos said.

Gokudera nodded sharply, not stopping to doubt her despite his still lingering distrust. "Let's go! It's going to change shape again!" he yelled to Yamamoto and Ryohei, all four of them breaking into a run.

Lambo, who had been carried to the door at the end of the first section by his Box Animal's charge when they first entered, started dancing from foot to foot anxiously as they raced toward him, the first deep rumblings echoing behind them. He tensed up almost comically as the opposite end of the hallway began to transform — the walls coming apart panel by panel to reveal the gears and pistons beneath, the floor splitting and disappearing, pipes and machinery moving through the space to form a whole new structure.

Since this was still only the beginning, they stayed ahead of the transformation easily and safely joined Lambo at the platform and the door to the next section.

Gokudera hung back, studying the shape of the room that was formed behind them. He nodded to himself. "Yeah, it's like I thought," he muttered.

"What is?" Ryohei asked.

"It's not random," Gokudera said. "There's a pattern. I've seen that layout before, twice. And that means there's only a set number of variations. And that means the traps are probably the same too." He smirked. "I just need to remember where they are, and we'll get through in no time."

"You can remember all of that?" Yamamoto whistled lowly. "You're really something, Guild Master."

Scowling, Gokudera felt himself flush a bit from Yamamoto's honest compliment. "It's easy! You're just slow! Use your head!" he snapped.

"Nerd," Lambo muttered under his breath.

Gokudera nailed him across the head. But as they move on, to the next section, he couldn't help but glance warily at the woman trailing after their party. Cosmos was smiling mildly again, and Gokudera wondered — he'd expected the shift because he's more or less figured out the timing, but how had she known when it was coming? How had she known when to wait for them in the first place?

He couldn't explain it at all, but something about her just wasn't quite add up. And something seemed strangely familiar.

~.~.~

"Left diagonal, from floor, 45 degrees! Horizontal, waist!" Gokudera barked out warnings. "Verticals, both sides!"

Yamamoto was in the lead this time, for his quick reflexes and sharp instincts. Following Gokudera's instructions, he dodged and weaved between the crisscrossing laser beams, which more often than not meant one hit kill with just a touch. Naturally, the lasers were almost completely invisible. They had taken almost a dozen tries to get through them the last time they ran across this particular set up.

Although he did admirably following Gokudera's warning, Yamamoto misstepped a little, and a red line burned into his shoulder — the laser becoming visible momentarily as his shoulder armor disintegrated from the damage. Yamamoto winced a little and managed to correct his course before he could lose the arm or have it cut deeply enough to take a movement penalty on it.

Ryohei, coming after him and imitating Yamamoto's movements, corrected his course to completely avoid the troublesome laser.

But the much stranger sight was Lambo, following Ryohei — copying Ryohei's motions exactly, and wailing in fear all the while. In fact, he was copying Ryohei a little too precisely for it to be natural. As they finally reached the end of the long hallway and the safe space around the door, Lambo even copied Ryohei's victorious fist pump.

"Make it stop! I can't take this anymore!" Lambo sobbed, despite his energetic posturing.

As they brought up at the rare, Gokudera glanced at Cosmos, who was carefully readjusting her oversized white hat. He didn't bother asking how she was able to make her own way through the laser traps, instead only commenting, "That's an interesting skill. Is it some kind of hypnotism?"

"No, it's from the Curse branch," Cosmos replied, smiling a little sheepishly as she tapped her staff against the metal floor. Her technique released, letting Lambo slump over pathetically. "It's a sympathetic magic that links two targets. It can be used to transfer status effects, or damage, or motion input."

"Using the Harmony property?" Gokudera guessed. Tsuna had never mentioned any skill branch like that, but he wouldn't have liked that kind of method anyway. Not to mention that it might be unique, like Tsuna's own Dying Will Mode.

"Urgh, let's never do that again," Lambo complained. "It's creepy! And weird!"

"Quit whining," Gokudera ordered. "We wouldn't need to do that if you could get through on your own, you stupid cow!"

Before things could degenerate into another argument, Yamamoto stepped up between them. "Maa, maa, it's fine, right?" he said placatingly. "We got through, and we're really making good time. So it's all good, no need to get worked up."

"Let's keep going to the extreme!" Ryohei agreed, grinning and practically vibrating with energy.

"I'm afraid this is as far as I can go today," Cosmos spoke up. The timer she had set up flashed as they had been talking, and now she gave them an apologetic smile. "I will join you again tomorrow."

"If we still haven't cleared it by then," Gokudera added testily. Her presumption set his teeth on edge. It was true that her support had helped — she exploited the Sky Flames' property with a deftness that Tsuna had yet to develop, especially for dealing with status effects — but it wasn't a make or break contribution.

Cosmos's smile became knowing as she paused, her hand hovering over her menu. "You won't," she said with certainty that wasn't disparaging, merely a fact. "We will do it together, by the end of the week."

Tapping the log out button, she dissolved into light, while Gokudera was left to frown at the place she had been standing. Again, something about her manner struck him as familiar, but he couldn't place it.

"Should we keep going?" Yamamoto asked after a moment, pulling Gokudera out of his thoughts.

"Let's not," Lambo groaned, but their guild master ignored him.

"Yeah," Gokudera said, "there's still some time, so let's see if we can find some of new configurations. There's probably another hundered, hundred and fifty we haven't see yet."

"So how many have you memorized?" Yamamoto asked, the casual mention of a ridiculous number making his eyebrows rise.

"Only one hundred and eighty five," Gokudera said. "We've been through more, but those are the ones I know well enough to predict."

Yamamoto chuckled, a little strained. "You… really are something," he muttered, shaking his head.

~.~.~

Returning to the real world, the player called Cosmos in IoF pulled off the visor and set it aside. She sat up and reached for her white hat, set aside to accommodate the VR gear. Looking around, she nodded to herself in satisfaction — her office looked undisturbed, which meant no one had noticed her actions so far.

Hopping off the large, plush armchair she had been reclined in, she quickly stowed the VR setup in her desk and locked the drawer.

She was just in time. A knock on the door came barely minutes later. "Boss?" a gruff male voice came from the other side. "The princess is finished with her lessons for the day."

"Thank you, Tozaru. I'll be there in a moment," she called back.

In the real world, her name was Luce, and she was the eighth boss of the Giglionero famiglia. She was also one of the Arcobaleno, cursed to the form of a child.

Even though she had known the change was coming, the adjustment had been difficult. There were so many parts of daily life that people took for granted, which suddenly became almost unmanageable when you were barely a foot high. Things like opening doors, which required Luce to carry a white cane with a bent head to pull on the handle far above her head.

Things like raising a daughter who quickly outgrew Luce herself.

That was the reason Luce had originally started using the VR system — to spend time with Uni, under at least the illusion of an adult, to actually hold her daughter as a mother, to forget, yes, about her curse.

It had been his suggestion — Gamma's. Officially, he was Luce's bodyguard, but she also considered him a friend, and her closest confidant. Even among the Giglionero family, founded by her ancestor, not only Luce's position left her isolated, but also her powers. A shaman who could see the future, wasn't that unsettling? Unnatural, creepy — she didn't need to be able to read minds to know they were often thinking that.

Gamma thought that way too, sometimes, but he had stuck with Luce despite that. He had even refused to let her transformed state deter him from staunchly shadowing her every step. If anything, the Arcobaleno curse seemed to make him even more protective and attentive.

He had helped her raise Uni, in all the ways Luce would have struggled with. For the three of them, the time they spent having adventures in the illusionary world of IoF was something they did as a family, treasured memories far removed from the grim reality.

It made Gamma's sudden departure all the more shocking. He hadn't explained anything. He had just left one day, with barely a goodbye.

Luce's own feelings aside, Uni had been devastated. She was still just a child, after all, and this felt too much like abandonment by one of her parental figures, even if Luce was certain there must have been a reason.

But since then, Luce had been completely unable to contact him, through any means. This was her last resort — looking for answers in the area Gamma had created within the game, as the eighth Over Rank player.

However, Luce didn't want Uni to know. Her daughter had refused to even look at the VR gear since Gamma left the famiglia. She didn't want to get her hopes up, regardless, not when there might not be anything to find.

Either way, Luce would know at the end of the week. She had seen those boys reaching the end, and her predictions hadn't been wrong yet.

~.~.~

A gushing stream of water sluiced out of the mouth of a large pipe, shooting in an arc into a dimly lit, massive chamber. Several more openings were spaced partway up the circular perimeter of the shaft, wide and tall enough to fit a skyscraper — each one spewing a waterfall that fed into the churning dark pool at the bottom.

Once in a while, small forks of electricity would spark out of the water — naturally, it was electrified and dealt enough damage per second, combined with a powerful stun effect, to be almost instant death.

Something else emerged from one of the pipes. It sounded rather like a scream of terror.

The scream, echoing metallically down the pipe, grew closer and closer until the source burst out into the shaft along with a swell of electrified water.

The one screaming was Lambo, clinging along with Ryohei to his Lightning Bull. The unfortunate Box Animal had ended up tipping onto its back, its legs flailing helplessly while its two passengers sat atop its stomach.

"I'm gonna diiiiie! Ahhh—!" Lambo sobbed, before his complaint cut off sharply as they shot out of the pipe and into empty space. He only screamed louder as all three of them began to fall.

Yamamoto and Gokudera followed a moment later — they had been riding large chunks of ice that Yamamoto had created with his Flames. Once they were falling, Gokudera reacted first, activating one of his Box Weapons — an arm mounted Flame cannon — and firing off a blast at Yamamoto.

It might have seemed like a strange move, but even as his HP dropped a little, Yamamoto was flung toward the wall. He flipped around to plunge his sword into the surface and, after being dragged down a little further, came to a stop, hanging from one hand on his sword hilt.

The recoil threw Gokudera back as well. He switched weapons quickly, to a small crossbow. The arrow he had equipped, and shot off, had a cable trailing after it, and Gokudera swung from it to stop his own descent. He looked around the wide shaft as he hung there, his eyes narrowing.

'A big open space… Yeah, it's gonna be a boss fight,' he thought.

There was a great splash from below, Ryohei, Lambo, and his Box Animal hitting the water like a cannonball. The Lightning Bull dematerialized, returning to its Box, and the other two surfaced a moment later, waist deep in the churning pool. They were both glowing with the heavy-duty self buffs they needed to keep themselves from getting paralyzed and swept away, but their HP bars were still ticking down slowly.

"Hey! Go that way! That way! There's a platform!" Gokudera yelled over the noise of the water, pointing toward the center of the chamber with his free hand.

Once he could see Lambo and Ryohei beginning to move in the right direction, he glanced at Yamamoto and received a sharp nod. He nodded back, satisfied that no one was getting left behind, and pushed off the wall to swing toward the platform himself. Letting go of the cable, Gokudera executed an acrobatic flip and landed onto the — surprisingly — stone floor that rose up out of the pool.

Bringing up last in their party and removed from the chaos of the last stretch, Luce floated down to land next to him — she had been using her staff as a witch's broom, earning many uncharitable thoughts about cheating Sky types.

Gokudera didn't spare her a glance, only studying suspiciously the strange structure in the center of the platform and the shaft. It appeared to be the usual mysterious combination of pillars and monoliths that was so popular in certain game levels. He just hoped there wasn't more traps between them and whatever lay at the heart of the structure — and the entire vault.

"You said you and your friends came here before," Gokudera said to Luce, while the rest of their party gathered. "How far did you get? Do you know if this is the boss's stage, or what's in there?"

Luce could only shake her head. "I wasn't with them when they did the last stretch. It was just my daughter and our friend."

They had gotten to the boss of the area at the time, Luce knew from Uni's account. But the giant robot had ended up overwhelming them, and Uni had been killed.

It was actually the first and only time she died in the game. Uni was powerful, more so than Luce, burdened by the Sky Pacifier as she was, and had been marked as an Over Rank player even before Gamma. Perhaps because she was so young, Uni had been able to manipulate the illusionary world to amazing extent, even creating her own area on a whim.

Luce could imagine Gamma's violent, explosive reaction, even if was just a game. By the time Uni was able to log in again, the server had rebooted and the area they had been in was transformed.

It wasn't long after that Gamma left. Looking back on it, Luce thought he had been too quiet and brooding for a short while before, but…

"Boss fight?" Yamamoto guessed, coming up next to them and also looking toward the structure rising above them in the center of the platform.

"Probably," Gokudera said. Turning around, he ordered, "So get ready! Heal up, restore status, and equip your best!"

"Ossu!" Ryohei sounded off, thrusting one fist in the air enthusiastically. Next to him, Lambo groaned with far less enthusiasm, but also obediently began scrolling through his inventory for potions.

Once they were ready, they set off cautiously toward the array of stone pillars and metal beams in front of them — like some mashup of the Stonehenge and a construction site. As they drew closer, Gokudera could make out more wires and pipes descending toward the center of it all, from a web of catwalks far overhead. As they stepped past the outer perimeter, glaring floodlights, positioned on the metal beams between the pillars, snapped on one by one.

But there were no more traps, just a scenic path to the boss, in silence.

In the center, the boss itself was waiting. It looked like a tall man with short blond hair, his back to them. A large tablet with three circles of indentations was resting on a raised dais in front of the boss. The sight of it made Luce draw a sharp breath.

"Long ago, this world belonged to another race," the boss began to speak without turning. "The ancient ones… They held a great power. The light of their souls, made into Flame. But their numbers dwindled, and eventually they disappeared…"

'This is… the game's backstory intro?' Gokudera thought, frowning. 'So they're not just bonus bosses? There's a story purpose? I'll have to tell Boss…'

"But their legacy was rediscovered — the Box technology. Pandora's box, left for those that would come after them," the boss continued. "The reawakening of that power transformed the entire planet. Only those who possess the same Flames can claim it for themselves and decide the course of this new world…"

The same exact dialogue was used by the boss Tsuna and Reborn had fought in the White a Tower, Memory of the First. However, the delivery was completely different. While the white-winged boss had exalted in the power and potential it spoke of, the black-clad "Memory of the Eighth" sounded only bitter and frustrated.

In the next section, their scripts finally diverged.

"That power is too much. It can't be controlled — their greatest treasures are a curse," the boss of the Vault spat out. "A curse upon the entire world that requires endless sacrifice. But if we can ease that curse even a fraction… Then I will claim one piece for myself and walk that cursed path!"

'So that's what it is… I understand now, Gamma…' Luce had time to realize sadly.

Then, the boss was turning to them, and BGM was kicking into a heavy battle theme. Although the boss had the characteristics of her subordinate's avatar, its face was completely concealed behind a smooth, metallic robot-like mask that revealed no emotion. A long staff weapon — a pool cue — appear in its hand, along with many floating balls sparkling with electricity.

The party scattered as the battle began. Immediately, there was chaos as pool balls ricochet like bullets between the pillars and beams, lightning leaped between the structures, and Box Animals Gokudera could just identify as Lightning Foxes joined the fray.

"Lambo, you're in front! Attack!" Gokudera yelled.

"This sucks! You suck!" Lambo wailed. But he did as ordered, pulling out the strongest, most upgraded Lightning Bull out of his herd collection — the one he had affectionately named Beef Bowl.

Lowing threateningly, the black bull charged. It ignored the billiard balls bouncing off its skin and batted side a fox, but the boss nimbly dodged aside as it stampeded past. Yamamoto tried to take advantage of the opening, only to find his sword blocked by the boss's billiard cue. Instead, he received several rapid fire hits from the billiard balls to the back, making him stagger and then freeze up from the stun effect.

Lambo's Beef Bowl wheeled around for another pass, but with no more success than the previous attempt. Gokudera's own shots were also dodged, and his traps had no chance, getting set off almost immediately by the constant electricity jumping throughout the battlefield.

Meanwhile, the other foxes had managed to drive Ryohei to the other side of the area, preoccupied as he was with dodging more ricocheting billiards.

All their HP bars were dropping, and they hadn't even managed to land one hit. It wasn't long before someone fell — Yamamoto first, then Lambo, followed by Luce and Ryohei without his tanking. Gokudera managed to last the longest, putting his ability to read the angles of the billiards and the foxes' attack patterns to good use, but he joined them soon enough.

They reappeared in the first control room, at the very start of the area. Gokudera wasn't the only one to groan in annoyance and frustration.

~.~.~

"Everyone remember the plan? Know your parts?" Gokudera demanded, as they stood in the final shaft, in front of the stone pillars and metal beams of the boss's arena.

Lambo rolled his eyes, while the others smiled goodnaturedly. Given that Gokudera had gone over the plan at least half a dozen times as they quickly and efficiently made their way through the rest of the dungeon — everyone had started to remember the pattern of the traps by that point — everyone not only remembered their part, but could recite it backwards in their sleep.

It was also not their first time trying the plan — they had only mistimed a little before, caught by surprise by a skill the boss had never used before.

Gokudera didn't seem put off by the lack of response; he was more or less talking to himself at that point, a nervous tick. He nodded sharply. "Then let's go," he said.

The boss was waiting for them in the center, in front of the same tablet, which always vanished once the battle actually began.

"Long ago, this world…" the boss began his intro dialogue again.

"We get it! Let's go!" Gokudera barked, as everyone quickly scattered to take their positions.

Fortunately, the system could pick up that kind of interrupt, which came often from impatient players, and the boss skipped the rest of his dialogue and went straight into its fighting stance, the BGM kicking in as the battle began.

There was a short delay as its billiard balls and foxes materialized, while the boss was vulnerable. They had decided to take advantage of that.

Luce was already calling out her own Box Animal — a Sky Squirrel; even upgraded, it counted as a low level Box, so its start time was much shorter. Its orange Flames flashed as it leaped for the boss. It wouldn't have been able to damage him much, but instead it simply landed on his shoulder.

"Curse: State Link!" Luce called out, twirling her staff. Both her Box Animal and the Boss glowed as the skill took effect — then Yamamoto, when Luce pointed her staff toward him.

"Seal: Bind!" Ryohei called out, slapping a paper talisman onto Yamamoto's back. It was a rare, annoyingly expensive item, but it applied an entire range of status effects to the target. Naturally, it didn't work on bosses, if used the normal way.

Yamamoto made a miserable face, finding himself completely unable to move. The boss, linked to him by Luce's Curse skill, froze as well.

Unfortunately, that didn't extend to his weapons or Box Animals. Fortunately, all of them always started in the same place. The billiard balls, in particular, always made the same opening movements too, so Lambo knew exactly where to go to deflect them away from Luce. Ryohei did the same next to Yamamoto — getting hit with another status effect would disable the binding seal.

That left Gokudera to keep the Lightning Foxes distracted. Their patterns were a bit more complex, and more reactive than the billiard balls, which just bounced. He quickly nailed one fox with a bomb and shot a crossbow arrow at the other. The Box was a strong one, so they were only momentarily stunned.

"Curse: Life Link!" Luce called out next, making the boss and Yamamoto glow again.

Yamamoto winced, knowing what was coming.

"Sorry to the extreme!" Ryohei yelled, flicking his wrist to draw the next item in his inventory — a dagger, called Shears of Atropos, also rare, expensive, possessing a special effect, and usually useless against bosses. He turned to his guildmate, swinging it in a quick slash.

Instantly, Yamamoto's HP plummeted, to exactly half its previous number. The boss was the same. Normally, he would have lost the same numerical amount, but the effect of the Shears got carried over, cutting off half the boss's HP as well, which was more than Yamamoto's entire bar.

'What a cheating skill tree,' Gokudera thought, not for the first time, with a glance at Luce. To be that unbalanced, it had to be a unique skill. The skills players came up with were often like that — completely bypassing the system's intended limitations and rules.

Of course, the system wasn't without certain ways of rebalancing. Taking that much damage, the boss automatically reset its status, throwing off the bind status effect and Luce's Curse.

Lightning crackled over the boss's form, immediately dealing enough damage to Luce's Sky Squirrel to make it dematerialize. At the same time, the boss jumped away — they had tried to hit him before he could move once, but it wasn't possible, and he always moved out of range, based on where the players were.

Instead, Ryohei used the short break — the billiard balls and foxes also momentarily retreating and resetting their patterns — to yank the binding seal off Yamamoto's back and start healing him.

"Ground!" Gokudera called out. He had been watching the boss to see what attack pattern he would take and saw him raise his billiard cue.

The party scattered on command, Luce taking to the air on her staff, Ryohei bodily heaving Yamamoto over his shoulder without pausing in his treatment and jumping away, Gokudera himself shooting around grappling arrow into a stone pillar to lift himself off the ground. Only Lambo didn't bother doing anything, only calling up his Flames and pulling out his Box.

The boss brought the butt of his cue down onto the ground, sending electricity flashing across the entire floor.

It was a stupidly powerful attack that hit anyone touching the floor or anything metal, which meant that trying to hang from the beams was useless. It also lasted several seconds, so just jumping wasn't enough. While he hung from his line, Gokudera glanced toward Ryohei and Yamamoto. He wasn't sure they'd had time to prepare properly, but it seemed Yamamoto had been able to lessen the bind effect enough to draw his sword and drive it into a stone pillar, so he and Ryohei hung from it together.

The spots were still fading from their eyes in the wake of the technique, when Lambo called out, "Elettrico Reverse! Charge!"

It was a skill that allowed him to gather electricity he came in contact with, store it briefly, and then release it. Originally, Lambo just released it into the ground, but there was a better option — into his Box. His favorite Lightning Bull lowed angrily as it appeared in a crackling storm and immediately charged the boss, who was still on his cooldown.

Just as Lambo was resistant to the boss's attacks, the boss was resistant to his, so the damage was much lower than it should have been, but still a reasonable chunk of the HP bar, which made the boss reset and relocate again.

Detaching himself from the grapple cable, Gokudera changed weapons and quickly returned to keeping the Lightning Foxes at bay.

"He's doing the snake thing!" Luce called down from above, taking over spotting duties.

As she had warned, the boss was attacking again. He twirled his cue, and thick, snaking bolts of lightning ran across the ground. Each one also attracted smaller, weaker bolts from the surrounding metal structures and added an extra charge to any billiard balls or foxes it passed by.

Ryohei and Yamamoto, on the offensive, dodged aside and then, at the exactly right moment, threw themselves into a slide — which, surprisingly, let them slip through the electric field surrounding the main bolt. They were back on their feet once they were clear, Ryohei taking the lead.

"Maximum Cannon!" he roared, punching toward the boss. The blast was just powerful enough to make the boss stagger, but not enough to make him pull away.

"Shigure Soen Ryu 8th Form…" Yamamoto brought up behind him, drawing back his sword, "Shinotsuku Ame!"

As he swung, a wave of water surged forward — it had taken him some practice, but it was easy enough to condense it out of the air; the system allowed it as part of the skill. It engulfed the boss, and normally Yamamoto would have followed up with sword strike, but this time was different.

"Freeze!" he declared instead, calling on his Rain Flames to turn the water into ice around the boss, trapping him in place.

"Charge!" Lambo yelled from nearby, followed by the lowing of his bull as it stampeded at the boss once more.

This time, the damage was higher — the water and the ice had the debuff property of Rain Flames, lowering the boss's defense and resistance. They were down to the last quarter of the boss's HP now.

'This is where it gets difficult,' Gokudera thought, as he and the rest of the party drew back.

The ice and water disappeared, the boss freeing himself and retreating. His avatar had changed, now showing battle damage. Flames surged around him to form a protective cloak that Gokudera knew would remain for the rest of the battle. The foxes, which had returned to the boss's side, glowed as well, their fur darkening to black.

"Everything is for them. I will protect them without fail," the boss declared, as he entered his special mode.

~.~.~

They didn't make it in that battle. It took another three tries to get through the boss's final mode — which was a special kind of unfair, since it took almost no damage and could jump and hover well enough to be called flight, along with the usual boost to stats and more brutal attacks — but somehow, in the end, they managed.

In the end, as much as Gokudera hated to admit it, they only made it through thanks to Luce. It had come down to own last blow that Ryohei wouldn't have landed if she hadn't distracted the boss by suddenly dropping out of the air onto of him; strangely, the boss had caught her, only to also catch a punch to the jaw.

Her Curse skills had been vital too, though Gokudera liked to think he would have eventually come up with some plan to win even without her, even if it would have probably taken them another week's worth of attempts at least.

So he and the rest of the group didn't begrudge her the two special rewards — the custom black fox Box Weapon and a document.

Though she held the Box with care, it was the document that caught her attention. Her eyes scanned it quickly, her expression momentarily strained before smoothing out into practiced blankness.

'I see,' Luce thought, as she let the paper dissolve and vanish into her inventory. 'So all of this, the entire concept of Over Rank, is to find people capable of supporting part of the Trinisette. The Vongola Rings are still being passed down, so that only leaves… the Mare Rings. And Gamma… They must have approached him after he transformed this place and offered him the Lightning Ring. And he agreed, hoping to ease the burden on the Arcobaleno.'

She sighed, regretful. Of course, someone as set in his ways as her bodyguard would have seen that as giving his allegiance to another group — to the Cervello and the holder of the Mare Sky Ring, in particular. And he wouldn't have allowed himself to remain with Giglionero if he couldn't give them his full loyalty. A conflict was interest was an unforgivable weakness in the mafia.

He probably didn't want to risk giving Luce or Uni a chance to talk him out of it. Because they would have tried; Luce would have tried.

'It's true that the Trinisette is linked within itself, among the three sets. And it's true that the two sets of rings strain the owners less than the Pacifiers,' she thought. 'But all the same, it's a burden and a responsibility I wouldn't have allowed him to accept. What are the Cervello even thinking, putting the Mare Rings into play? Did Lady Sepira leave some kind of instructions when she entrusted the last set to them…?'

As the realization of their victory began to truly sink in, Yamamoto laughed — uncertainly at first, then with honest joy. "We did it!" he exclaimed. "We really did it, hahaha!"

"Uraaah! Extreme victory!" Ryohei joined in, roaring in triumph.

Lambo chuckled, more surprised than jubilant. "I can't believe it," he muttered, dropping to the floor and then tipping onto his back.

Turning away, Gokudera tried to hide his own smirk of satisfaction, but he couldn't help almost beaming. 'I can't wait to tell Boss!' he thought.

Looking at them, even Luce managed a small, strained smile. "Thank you. I appreciate all your help," she said, when Gokudera glanced at her.

"Did you figure something out?" he asked quietly.

"A little," she admitted.

Gokudera nodded slowly. "Your friend, he's the eighth Over Rank, right?" he said. Luce's silence was enough of an answer — it hadn't been that hard to guess, not really. "Did… did it have anything to do with the admins? The reason he left?"

There was no answer this time either.

"Our boss, I mean our former guild master, he's the tenth. He was approached by the admins to help with some research, about the VR. That's why he can't play anymore," Gokudera told her. "So about your friend, you should be careful. Cervello is… really strong."

Or rather, they had a long reach. Like the mafia, really. They were everywhere, had a hand in everything.

'Mafia…' Gokudera thought suddenly, his eyes drawn to the symbol on Luce's cheek and narrowing as something twinged in his memory.

Luce smiled. "Is that why you're doing this? To draw their attention too? So all of you can at least go together?" she noted astutely. "Well, it's none of my business. Thank you for the warning. And good luck."

Without waiting for his response, she logged out.

~.~.~

Ryohei stumbled downstairs, yawning and stretching, still lightheaded with triumph. He grinned again, just remembering. True, they had given the real proof of their victory to their temporary ally, but it wasn't like Ryohei was interested in bragging rights. Rather, he was satisfied with the feeling that he had grown stronger — and closer to his teammates.

They had been moving in synch, in almost perfect coordination by the end — through the traps, through the boss's attacks.

'Nothing like a good, hard training to bring a team extremely together,' Ryohei thought, nodding to himself. Now, if only the boxing club understood that too…

"Oh, Onii-chan," Kyoko glanced up at him with a smile as he wandered into the kitchen. "Taking a break? You've really been going at it this week. I'll have dinner ready in a bit."

"Sounds great. Thanks, Kyoko," Ryohei said, plopping down at the table. "Yeah, we finally did it. We beat the dungeon and the boss! It was an extreme battle, but it didn't stand a chance against our team." He was grinning again as he spoke, punching one palm with the other fist.

"Hmm…" Kyoko hummed in agreement, stirring something on the stove. "It sounds like you had a lot of fun. …Actually, onii-chan, I wanted to tell you… I've started playing too. The VR game, I mean."

It took a moment for her meaning to properly register with Ryohei. Then, he leaned in excitedly. "Really? You're in IoF, Kyoko? How do you like it? Do you want to meet up?"

"I like it," Kyoko said, chuckling a little. "It's really amazing. It really is a whole new world. I made some friends too. There's my, um, boss. I help at her store and model the outfits she makes. Her name is Haru. And there's also the person who helped me when I just got there. He's an older player. His name is Ieyasu."

"I… Ieyasu?" Ryohei repeated, bewildered. "Wait, when did you start playing?"

"This past weekend," Kyoko replied. "Why?"

"A-and how is he, Ieyasu?" Ryohei wondered. It couldn't be the same person, right?

"He's really amazing. Haru thinks so too," Kyoko said, smiling again. "Though I haven't seen him much this week. He's been busy with that boy…"

His face screwed up in concentration, Ryohei slowly shook his head. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he would definitely have to tell Gokudera about this.

~.~.~

**Notes:** So, Uni is Luce's daughter, not granddaughter, skipping Aria entirely. Luce's also still alive. "Cosmos" of course from her squirrel "Cosmo" and also from the flower.

The particularly astute (obsessive?) might have wondered how Ghost works into the whole "Mare Rings have a full set of owners" thing. The answer is, there's no Ghost. The Lightning Ring was given to Gamma by the Cervello. More on that later. (AKA, the Cervello continue to manipulate everyone.)

For the boss fight, I was thinking of the Biolizard battle from Sonic Adventure 2, strangely. Went and downloaded some of the OST too, actually…

Also, I'm sorry to do this to you guys, but... **1 week hiatus.** Update in 2 weeks.

~.~.~


End file.
